Forever and Always
by ForeverSinging
Summary: It's 7th year at Hogwarts & Lily expects to be nagged down to her last nerve by the infamous, arrogant Potter- but...will this year be different? Read as new, unexpected friendships bloom & old rivalry deepen. R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N- Hey everyone, this is my first fanfic so I'll need all the feedback I can get, good or bad so I know how to improve and all that stuff =) Just bear it with me here please =P. Thanks for reading and please review! =)**

**Disclaimer- Harry Potter does not belong to me sadly but to the amazing JK Rowling. If it were mine…I'd add some more Lily/James stuff…anyway, on with the first chapter! Hope you enjoy!**

"Lilllyyyy, get up! You're going to be late for the Hogwart Express." Mrs. Evans called upstairs to her daughter.

"Freak…" The redhead heard her sister mutter from downstairs. She stretched her arms and stifled a yawn, _Ugh, when will she understand…_

Rubbing her eyes to clear her view, she looked at her calendar on her wall and saw the circled date. September 1st! _Finally! _Lily Kathleen Evans was now officially starting her last/seventh year at Hogwarts and after this, she could pursue her dream of becoming an auror. Her owl, Wiz, fluttered excitedly in her cage. _We're going back to Hogwarts! _she seemed to be saying.

"Well Wiz, we're going back and then we'll get to see Alice and Kat..." Lily said happily at the mention of her two best friends. Though soon, her mind cleared from the excitement and looked towards her nightstand and the letter on top of it. She had received the letter congratulating her of becoming the Gryffindor Head Girl.

_Dear Ms. Lily Evans,_

_Congratulations, you have been chosen to become Head Girl for your house. Please be at the meeting for the Prefects/Heads on September 1st on the train at 12:00 PM so we can arrange duty times, etc. _

_Thank you and congratulations,_

_Minerva McGonagall, Gryffindor Head_

After rereading the letter three times to make sure she wasn't in a dream, went downstairs to share the good news with her family.

_Flashback-_

_"Mum! Dad! I'm Head Girl at Hogwarts! I'm Head Girl!" the Lily yelled into the kitchen where her family was._

_"Blimey, that's great Lily!" Mr. Evans said delighted and held out his rough hands to embrace his daughter._

_"Congratulations sweetie!" her mom replied, her emerald eyes glowing with joy._

_All was going well, with all the "I knew you could do it!" hugging, and a beaming daughter- up until a groaning voice made its way into the kitchen. _

_"What's all the fuss?" Petunia came into the room, rubbing her eyes with her emaciated hands from sleeping in. Her light brown hair was a mess and her boney cheeks had a slight pink tint. "Oh, it's just you celebrating for your freak of a daughter." She mumbled, turning her back around to go back to her sleeping._

_"Now Tuney, don't be so inconsiderate. Your sister was just chosen as Head Girl. Aren't you happy for her?" her mother scolded._

_"Why would I be happy that this freak was chosen as Head Girl? I barely even know what that is, not that I care. Now she can join all the other freaks at her school and maybe make some friends." She replied making her way up the stairs._

_"Petunia…" Mr. Evans had muttered. "Eh…don't worry Lils, Petunia won't stay like this forever; she's happy for you I'm sure. Why don't you go upstairs and get ready. We'll take you out for ice cream to celebrate alright?"_

_"Uh huh…sure Dad, that sounds great." She'd replied half-heartedly, still thinking of what her sister had just said. Petunia always called her a freak, ever since she'd gotten an accpetance letter from Hogwarts and it'd never really bother her up until now. Was she really a freak?_

_End Flashback_

That'd happened a week ago and Petunia was still either stuck in her room or with her boyfriend, Vernon. _Who'd date that bloke?_ Lily had thought when she first found out who Petunia was dating. _Even someone like Petunia wouldn't date __**him.**_ Though the thing her sister had said earlier still bothered her every once and a while, she'd found something else to occupy her mind- If she was Head Girl, who was Head Boy? She'd soon find out.

**(lil dividing thingy over here...but it wont show up...u kno how people go * * * or something like - in stories of watever? show up dividing thingy! anyway, theres suppose to be one here...)**

"Bye Mum," Lily hugged her mom before boarding the train. The fiery redhead was wearing her new Hogwarts robes, luggage and her owl next to her, everything packed, and a grin was painted on her face. "Take care Dad. Bye…Tuney…" Lily waved hesitantly to her sister. The only response she got was a "humph" and her sister stomping away from the station.

"Ah…this won't last for much longer sweetie; Petunia will come to her senses. Oh, I got to go; Tuney's going to get mad if she's not on time for Vernon's date. Oh great," her mother mumbled and Lily had to smile, her mother liked Vernon as much as she did herself, and that wasn't a lot…soon her mother left, her green coat waving loosely behind her calling out to her sister to wait.

After saying goodbye one last time to her dad, Lily went through the barrier and found herself on platform 9 and ¾. Parents were hurrying their kids around the station, she'd forgotten her robes or he'd forgotten his owl.

"Lily!" a too familiar voice squealed and soon Lily found herself enveloped in a huge hug.

"Alice!" she squealed and turned around to see a brunette grinning at her. Her dark chocolate eyes glowed with excitement while her smile stretched from one end of her face to the other. Lily looked up and down at her best friend, _Wow; she's grown over the summer._

"Blimey Lils, you look great! How's your summer? I know you sent me some owls but I want to hear it in person. C'mon, tell!"

Lily had been about to go on about her vacation to Egypt when a low voice interrupted her.

"Blimey Evans, you've grown. You look stunning as always, how was your break?" An arrogant voice said. _No…him?_

"Potter," Lily replied disgustingly. "It was fine, up until _you_ showed up. Yours?" Lily gritted her teeth. Had he come here to ruin the beginning of her last year already?

"Well Sirius came again but other than that, it was pretty boring. Though with you here, I think it's just gotten better." Lily could hear the grin in his voice. She turned around and found the infamous James Potter- Quidditch Seeker and captain standing before her with his messy jet-black hair and his round glasses with a childish grin painted on his face. He was dressed in his black robes and his chest protruded with a Head Boy badge pinned on. _Why does he look so confident? But then again…he's always poised…_Next to him were his luggage and owl, Merlin. Truth be told, he had gotten handsomer, though that didn't mean, his juvenile behavior was any better. "Alice," he nodded towards her.

"James," she replied politely.

The glowing glint on James's robes caught her eye a second time and this time her mind registered what that shiny thing was. _Wait, Head Boy badge? _Lily thought bewildered. _That's not possible…is it? _"Ja- Potter, whose Head Boy badge did you steal this time?" Lily asked flustered, not accepting the idea of the bloody idiot becoming a Head.

This comment made James grin smugly and become even more assertive. "What do you mean Lily? This is _my_ badge, not anyone else's. I wouldn't steal from anyone; what kind of juvenile bloke would do that? I mean, if it were me, I'd set stink bombs in Mcgonagall's office or something else more...interesting." he replied innocently.

Lily had to laugh at the dumbfounded look on his face, though after a while, the sentence that he'd said before registered her mind. _This is __**my **__badge _he had said.

**"**_**You're Head Boy?"**_

**So…how was this chapter? Like it? Hate it? Give me your feedback, good or bad, I don't mind. =) And please, just stick with me. If you think it's horrible, I'll find a way to improve it. Hey…and…uh by the way, don't look; but there's a button that says…**_**I told you not to look! **_**Anyway, it says review this chapter/story…you mind clicking on that? Hehee…feel free to leave your comments!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N- hey you guys =) Thank you all for the reviews, they really helped a lot. And thank you so much for sticking with me for this story- what's a story without readers right? Thanks again!**

**Disclaimer- Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and doesn't belong to me because if it did…well this would be a whole different thing right?**

"Surprised aren't you Evans?" James asked smugly.

"Well…pff, YEAH," the redhead spluttered, still staring at the badge. "You can't be! You can't just walk in and be all, 'I'm the amazing James Potter and I'm Head Boy!' It just isn't possible that _you'd_ be it…"

"And why is that?"

"Because Dumbledore isn't bloody mental!" Lily replied, frustrated.

James chuckled; this, apparently, was really hard for her. "Mental or not, I'm Head Boy and I've got proof," he replied indolently. Lily stood there gaping at the badge. "Oh, quit your drooling, it's not that hard to believe," Lily scoffed.

"Whatever," she replied after a few more double-takes at the badge. "I'll see you at the meeting," and she swiftly walked away.

"Nice seeing you too, Lily," James laughed quietly and started off to find the Marauders.

******(dividing thingy. where are youu? eventually, if i keep doing this in place of the *** to indicate tht thats one short part of the chapter...its gonna get annoying so next time, we're gonna go with DT; stands for dividing thing...clever huh? no...alright?)**

"Here's one," Alice said, opening the door to a compartment. After the little "YOU'RE HEAD BOY? HOW, WHAT" incident, Lily quickly walked away, Alice trying to catch up, to look for an empty compartment. The whole time, the redhead had been thinking about several things, mostly about James being Head; _I have to work with **him**? How can this happen? I can't work with that bloke! Ugh…Nice year this'll be._ Though one thing was stuck in her mind and pelted her with the same question over and over; _Would it be so bad after all? _

_Give him a chance Lil, _her mind had urged.

_Eh…_

_Give me one good reason why he doesn't deserve another chance._ Her mind argued. _You don't know if he's changed._

Lily tried to talk back but she couldn't think of any good reasons to respond. _Blimey, I'm arguing with myself…I need some pumpkin juice. _She thought. _We'll talk about this later. _Lily stated closing the conversation…for now.

She stepped into what _seemed _to be an empty compartment. As she set her foot into the empty room, she saw a brown blur and was suddenly enveloped in a rather tight hug. She looked down and recognized the brunette easily.

"Kat!" Lily exclaimed, well, trying to at least. It was somewhat hard to talk.

"Katherine!" Alice said joining the embrace.

"Lily! Alice!" Kat said finally letting go. Lily heaved a sigh and breathed in the air she was prevented from enjoying because of the hug. Kat's light brown hair was tied in a side ponytail; her bright blue eyes glowed with exhilaration. She was average height for her age, though that didn't mean her attitude was typical. She would be impudent when it was needed and hyper when necessary. Katherine was a mixture of emotions- one minute, she's all giddy and happy and the next, she's hexing you into oblivion.

"Merlin, it's great to see you two! How were your summers?" Kat said after settling down.

"Fantastic. The pyramids in Egypt were amazing," Lily had always been fascinated with architecture. "You know that the goblins there are really grouchy, grouchier than the ones here,"

"Wow, that's something." Alice said nodding. "You know, Africa have some of the most fascinating creatures. Hippogriffs, Nargles, something called an _elephunk_…everything." She said in awe.

"It's called an eleph_ant_ Al." Lily corrected.

"Really? I thought it was an _elephunk_…" Alice went on mumbling to herself about elephants when she was interrupted by the compartment door sliding open.

"Oi! Evans, Nice to see you again. Prongs found you yet?" a strikingly handsome boy said.

"Sirius, great to see you too." Lily said sarcastically. "Isn't Potter with you?" she asked surprised that the two best friends weren't together. Sirius had a handsome smile on his face, wearing a navy blue jacket, his hands stuck in his pockets.

"He's coming…3…2…1"

"Padfoot, you didn't wait for me!" whined James as he entered the room.

"Well, with Evans here, I figure it wouldn't take you long to find your way," Sirius replied leering.

"Evans?" James looked at her as if he'd just noticed she was there.

"Yay…you found me," Lily said unenthusiastically. "Now can you please leave?" she asked, gesturing towards the door.

"Who said we were leaving?" Sirius asked grinning. "Moony and Peter are here too." He opened the door wider to reveal Remus and Peter standing there. Peter glanced around nervously as if he was claustrophobic. Lupin shrugged and smiled weakly as if to say, "Couldn't stop them. Sorry." Lily smiled back while Kat gave a little wave. "No ones going anywhere," Sirius concluded. Lily groaned and her head fell on Alice's shoulder.

"C'mon Lily, let them stay." Alice said softly, nudging her friend.

"Do I have a choice?" Lily muttered, her voice muffled from Alice's sweater.

"Nope," Sirius replied smirking.

"Fine," she mumbled.

"Yay! Wormy, don't be scared, it's not like they're going to eat you. Come in!" Peter looked around cautiously before stepping into the crowded room.

As Sirius and the others got ready to play 'Would You Rather', someone gently tapped Lily's shoulder. She turned around and was face to face with the arrogant James Potter.

"What do you want Potter," Lily asked angrily, not making eye-contact. "I will not go out with you," her head fell back on the seat.

"Hey, no need to be grouchy, and we'll see about that going out thing." He whispered, smiling.

Lily scoffed.

"I just wanted to say that since you don't look to happy with us being here, we'll leave if you want us to. Sirius won't be too happy but he'll tag along." James whispered.

Lily's expression softened and smiled. "No, it's fine."

"Prongsie! Would you rather lick a hippogriff or-"Sirius called from the circle but was cut off.

"Actually, I'd rather go to the Prefects and Heads meeting and not get yelled at by McGonagall," he replied. "C'mon, don't want to be late do you?" he offered his hand grinning and Lily took it. She looked at her watch and gasped at the time.

"Oh crap! We're going to be late! Come _on! Let's go!_"

"Alright, alright. Geez Lily, what's the hurry?" he asked smiling at her flustered look.

"_What's the hurry?_ We're going to be late for our first meeting! What kind of impression will _that_ make? _Come on James,_ let's GO!"

"Ok, ok. See you later guys," he called before closing the doors. What Sirius might say next, he didn't want to hear.

The whole way to the meeting, Lily walked swiftly, James beside her, a wide grin on his face.

Lily glanced at him and asked, "What's with the grin?"

"Nothing,"

"What is it Potter?"

"You called me 'James',"

"What?" Lily said thinking she heard wrong.

"You called me 'James'," he repeated. "Back in the compartment,"

"So?" Lily ducked her head trying to conceal her burning face and marched quickly forward, leaving a beaming James Potter behind

"Ok, so remember your schedules. If you have any questions, come find one of us…preferably me," Lily concluded the meeting, glancing at James.

"Hey, I'm reliable!" he pouted.

Lily laughed. "Ok, any of us will be fine. You're all dismissed," The rest of the Gryffindor prefects left and returned to their own compartments, whispering among themselves.

A voice whispered in Lily's ear, "That was a nice meeting you planned. Very organized,"

Lily groaned. "Thanks. Now can you please back away? You're breathing on me."

"Fine," she felt him step back.

"Let's go find the others. Who knows what Sirius's done to them by now," Lily said heading towards the door.

"I can only imagine…" James replied, following behind the redhead. Lily rolled her eyes.

As they walked through the somewhat corridors, the two felt a presence stalking them and suddenly a heavy voice said, "Lily-"

She whipped her head around at the familiar voice. James's hand flew to his pocket where his wand was. "Severus," Lily said repulsively.

"Lily, I'm sorry about what happened. I didn't mean it honestly. It just _slipped. _I'm really very sorry but it happened two years ago and I've regretted it ever since. Why can't you accept that?" Snape said, his eyes pleading for forgiveness.

_Slipped?_ Lily thought angrily. "Oh I accept that. I just don't accept what you've become since those years and who you hang around with," she said, her eyes glaring at Snape. "Now would you please leave me alone?"

"Lily-"

"She said to _leave her alone_ Snape," James said calm but dangerous, his wand pointing at Severus, eyes perilous.

"Potter," he scowled. "Lily, don't listen to him, he's a-"

"She told you to _leave her alone_!" James said threateningly, eyes violent.

Snape's mouth curved into a snarl and disappeared slowly into the shadows. "Let's go Lily," James said, after a while, glancing around cautiously. After everything seemed fine, he continued down the train, Lily turning around quickly, hurrying behind.

She caught up to him and tapped his shoulder.

"Hmm?"

"Back there…"

"Look I'm sorry I threatened him, but what was I to do? Stand there and watch that git beg for forgiveness? It's disgusting," James said, his eyes still having a trace of danger.

"No it's not that. I don't really care about all that, just no actual hexing ok?"

"I'll see, though no promises," James slowly smiled. "Now what did you want to say?"

"…Thanks…James,"

**Ok so that's chapter 2! I just wanted to say again that I REALLY appreciate you reading my story and for reviewing them, so if you haven't- please review! So was this chapter better than the first one? Worse? Please give me your feedback, it'd help so much! Thank you!**

**Peace,**

**MyWorld4eva**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N- Thank you so much reviewers and people for just reading this; they really helped. =) and I just wanted to say that for the next few weeks (I'm not exactly sure how long) I might be updating a little slower 'cause I got stuff I need to do. My goal is to **_**try**_** to update every week to two weeks at the most, so if I don't update in a week, I'm either 1) too busy or 2) having writers block. Ok, well- Chapter 3! Hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- Harry Potter does not belong to me, but if it did, that would be **_**pretty**_** awesome =)**

The train whistled and leisurely slowed to a stop as they arrived at the castle. The windows glowed a bright yellow, welcoming the returning and new students in. Everyone on the Hogwarts Express hurried and bustled each other out of their compartments and onto Hogwarts property. Lily, Alice, Kat, and the Marauders, hurried off the train (before it left _with_ them in it) and settled on the ground, the big castle in the distance.

"It's great to be back," Kat said, looking around the familiar place and breathing in the fresh air.

"Yeah, it is," smiled Lily. "Hey look! It's Hagrid!" she pointed to the familiar half-giant, waving. Everyone else saw the gamekeeper and waved. Hagrid smiled, waved back, and walked over to them.

"Have a good summer, did ya?" he asked, staring down at the seven people. He was the same as always; his messy hair, uncombed it looked like, and his eyes still gleamed like a child.

"Yeah, it was great," Alice said and everyone else nodded. "How's yours?"

"It was fine. I gots a new pup and its ov'r there in the hut- won him in a gamble; name's Fang; yeh can come over sometime if yer like and see 'im," Hagrid said, smiling at the thought of his new companion.

"That'd be great Hags," Sirius grinned, calling him a new nickname he'd probably thought of just that minute, due to the perplexed look on Hagrid's face, not sure who he was addressing to. A big splash was heard followed by a chorus of laughter and giggles.

"Oh, I gotta go before them little ones get hurt. First years…" he mumbled. "They get so tedious sometimes…Alright, I'll see you folks later," he left, waving.

"Bye Hagrid-Hags," everyone said in unison, besides Sirius, who used his made up nickname. Everyone turned around and stared.

"Quit calling him that Black," Kat said, eyebrows raised.

"What? It's not like he doesn't like it," he said, defending himself.

"Whatever Sirius, let's get going," James said shaking his head, and leading the group up to the carriages.

Before boarding their ride up to Hogwarts, they heard one last thing.

"Oi! I told you to get into the _boat_, not the _water!_ Come outta there!" a gruff voice called. Laughing, the seven seventh years headed on up to the castle.

As they entered the Great Hall, the seven looked around the giant room, decorations hanging from the ceiling, stars on top. Sirius looked at the empty plates and grinned at the thought of having a heap of food appear on his plate just a few moments after. A sudden hush filled the room and the group hurried to their house table to watch the sorting.

A group of tiny first years crowded around the tattered hat and gazed at it, amazed. Some of them jumped when a stern voice said "Ah hem," and quickly got behind McGonagall as she called out names.

"Bellatrix Black!" McGonagall called as a young, dark-haired witch scurried to the stool. Sirius glared and scowled at his cousin. James looked at his face, worried.

"SLYTHERIN!" the hat called out almost instantly and the tables to the left let out a big cheer as the young witch hurried to the tables, grinning.

"Andy Creevey!" a little, hyper, light brown haired boy climbed onto the stool as the professor placed the hat on his head. While waiting for his house to be called out, Andy grinned widely, though you could tell he was nervous too, glancing at the four different groups, knowing he was going to be a part of one of the houses soon.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled after what seemed like moments of mumbling to himself, and the first year slid off the bench and hurried to his house, grinning, genuinely happy. James smiled at the thought of himself on his first day of his first year…

_-Flashback-_

_"Sirius Black!" McGonagall called out. Sirius Black's face paled and looked nervously at the black tattered hat, sitting on the seat. _

_"It's going to be alright mate, don't worry," James said, smiling weakly at his new friend, patting him on his back. Sirius nodded slowly, a blank expression painted on his face. _

_He slowly trudged to the stool and heaved himself on top while the professor placed the hat on top of his head. His eyes were squeezed shut as he waited for his house to be called a few moments later. Suddenly, his eyes opened wide and a look of horror spread across Sirius's face. He squeezed his eyes shut...hard. A few snickers could be heard from the Slytherin table. James stared at his friend, worried. After that, it really only took a few seconds but to both James and Sirius, it felt like hours. Tick-tick-tick…James was so absorbed in his own thoughts, 'C'mon Sirius, it'll be okay,' that he didn't hear a sudden shout._

_"GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius slid off the stool, grinning widely and rushed off to his house table, Gryffindors smiling and applauding welcomed their new member of their family. As he passed James, Sirius winked, sending the "It's going to be alright" message. First years after first years began to be sorted to their own houses- a few to Slytherin, a couple to Ravenclaw, several to Hufflepuff, and some to Gryffindor. James noticed that the quiet boy in their train compartment (who hadn't talked much), Remus Lupin had been sorted into Gryffindor too, along with a tiny, nervous, boy- Peter Pettigrew. _

_Lily Evans, a muggleborn had been sorted into Gryffindor as well, shortly after Sirius. She stood out from the others- she didn't fall for him immediately (more like hadn't fallen for him at all) unlike all the other girls he had met. Lily only thought of him as an arrogant pig and vowed she would __**never**__ go out with "Potter" she called him. Nonetheless James promised himself that sometime, during his life, before his death, Lily Evans __**would**__ fall for him- and he was going to make sure of it. _

"_Michael Patil!" and a small boy ran to the chair. 'It's going to be me soon' James thought. He glanced at Sirius, who was talking vigorously with Remus and Peter. He caught James's eye and gave him a thumbs up. Remus looked up and smiled encouragingly. 'What if I get into Slytherin? My parents will disown me! Well…not really but then I'll disown myself.' His heart pounded. 'I wonder if the Sorting Hat will let you request your house…What am I going to do?' He ran his hand through his messy jet-black hair. Michael was soon sorted into Ravenclaw and the moment James dreaded the most came._

"_James Potter!" the stern voice pulled him out of his thoughts. James slowly walked over to the hat, all eyes on him. He sat on top the chair and the hat was placed on top of his head._

"_Hmm…one of a kind boy we have here. How was your summer?" the hat purred inside James's head._

"_Uh…fine…how was yours…uh…hat?" James thought nervously. _

"_Ah, how considerate of you to ask about my summer, first year; I was just stuffed in ol' Dumbledore's office. Must be enjoyable right; just staring at the same scene day after day. Hmm…now what do we have here? A brave soul if I may say…you have a lot of leadership too, along with a very mischievous mind…you'd do well in Slytherin…"_

_**Slytherin?**__ James thought. Oh no…"Gryffindor, Gryffindor," he thought over and over. _

"_Oh? You want to be in Gryffindor am I right? Is that what you want? I'm not so sure…Slytherin fits you very well…are you sure?" the hat asked mysteriously._

"_YES! A hundred percent sure! Uh…I mean…um…yes please," James thought. Smooth. _

"_Well…if you truly insist…then you must be GRYFFINDOR!" _

_Whistles and applause came from the middle of the Great Hall as James quickly slipped off the chair and joined Sirius who was grinning widely at his friend. He slapped James on his back and smiled._

"_Oi! You're in Gryffindor too! I have to admit I was a bit worried there in the beginning when I was called, though only a bit." he said. James laughed at the confidence he now had after his dreaded moment. "But when you were up there, pshhh I knew you'd make it to Gryffindor, no doubt and now here you are!" he glanced at the table and his eyes widened. "Look at all this food!" Sirius said in awe. "The house-elves have outdone themselves," his face glowed. _

"_Then start eating you git!" James smiled as everyone dug into their food that appeared on their plates just a few minutes ago. This was going to be one heck of a year._

_-End Flashback-_

"Let the feast, begin!" Dumbledore announced as the final first year was sorted into his house; Ravenclaw. James was pulled out of his thoughts as pumpkin juice filled his glass and treacle tarts and other foods filled the platters. He looked at his friends, chatting lively with one another and at Sirius who was filling his plate with everything he saw; the sorting in first year now a fading memory.

"The house-elves have outdone themselves this year," Sirius said.

"You say that every year," James replied, smiling.

"So? Now start eating!" Sirius said through a mouthful of food and bits of it went onto James's cheek.

"Alright, alright, no need to spit your food onto my face," James replied, wiping his cheek. He picked up his plate and started to fill his own plate with almost everything, though not as much as Sirius did- he wasn't the pig in the Marauders, Pads was.

While eating, James thought of all the things he'd get to do this year; since he was Head Boy, he'd get to spend more time with Lily and show her that he wasn't the arrogant snob she thought he was; try to get on her good side- which he was not on…yet. And Quidditch- he was captain this year and it was going to be pretty busy with all the tryouts; looking for people who could fill in the empty spots, but they had to be skilled. There probably were a lot more great things that would happen during his seventh year but the hearty aroma filled his nose with delight and he immediately dug into his food. This year might just be the best.

**A/N- So how was it? I personally think this wasn't as good of a chapter as the last two but…this is where I need YOU guys. Did you like this one? Hate it? I think there's probably A LOT of editing that needs to be done here so…yeah. Let me say that if you read this now and then wait a week and reread it, you'll probably see A LOT of difference on the same chapter then you did when you first read it. With all that said, please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N- So I found time to update this week so yay! =) Thanks for sticking with my story- I know I've said A LOT but I seriously appreciate ALL the support =) Its great, because this is my first fanfic and its nice to have some feedback- positive and negative; I welcome both. So thanks again and here's chapter 4!**

**Disclaimer- This is only the 4****th**** chapter and I'm already tired of saying it- 'Harry Potter does not belong to me blah blah blah…'**

"Lily…wake up…Lily…ugh…YOU FAILED YOUR N.E.W.T EXAMS!" Kat yelled into sleeping Lily's ear. It that didn't get her up, Katherine wouldn't know what to do.

"I'll retake it! **Please** let me retake it!" Lily shot up from her pillow, eyes wide, banging her head against the headboard of her bed. "Ow…huh?" she looked around her dormitory, at the already dressed Kat- eyes wide, as past events flowed through her mind. Today was the first day of classes…the big feast was yesterday…and N.E.W.T exams weren't going to be here for a while. "What was that for?" she asked angrily, rubbing her head. Sunlight streamed through the window and blinded the redhead.

"We had to get you up one way or another," Kat mumbled. She stared at her friend, her hair like a fiery birds nest. Lily groaned and buried herself under the covers. She was tired no doubt. Last night, after the feast, the girls had gone up to their dormitory. Lily and James had led the first years to the Common Room and dormitories after giving them a little intro and tour around the castle. Lily was especially surprised at James for not making any silly comments or joking with the younger kids; he was all but silly. Afterwards, they joined the girls in their rooms, the Marauders following of course (the stairs hadn't turned into a slide when the boys walked up them for some reason- "Oh, _now_ you decide to not work and let them in?" Lily thought angrily.), along with Frank, and started unpacking. Frank and Alice were lively chatting with each other, Kat was talking with Remus, Peter was glancing nervously around the room, and James and Sirius were being disgusting pigs…as usual. No surprise there is it?

"C'mon Lily, get up. You're going to be late for the first class of the year and knowing you…well knowing you, you'd be up already," Kat shook the bed but the covers stood still. "Al, get her up," she whined, looking at her friend.

"Wow…it's already 8:30…" Alice mused at the clock on the bedside tale.

"WHAT? CLASSES START IN A HALF-HOUR! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME I WAS GOING TO BE LATE?" Lily rushed out of her bed, jumped over some suitcases that the girls still hadn't had time to put away, rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut…all in about two seconds.

"Wow…" Alice gazed at the bathroom door which now had running water and fast brushing sounds coming out of it. "I wasn't planning for _that _to get her out of bed, I really had nothing intended….yet. She's unbelievable…" As soon as she said that, Lily burst out of the bathroom, dressed, and her hair combed.

"Let's go to breakfast. Don't want to be late, do you?" she asked cheerfully, heading out the door.

"How did you do that? Your clothes weren't even in the bathroom!" Kat exclaimed, following her friend out the door.

"I have my ways," Lily called back and Alice followed the two, shaking her head.

**DT (remember this? heh...)**

"Where are we to first?" Kat asked after a rushed breakfast, peering over Lily's shoulder to see if she had her schedule in her hands- she didn't.

"Transfiguration," Lily replied turning right at a corner.

"You memorized your schedule?" Kat asked amazed.

"What did you expect?" Alice replied. "Our little Lily-kins just couldn't wait to get her hands on her schedule and memorize all of it," Lily glared at her friends and walked to the door of the classroom.

"Oi Evans! You have Transfiguration too?" a familiar voice called. _No not them…do they have to have the __**exact**__ same schedule as me? I mean, Potions, DADA, Transfiguration, sure but to take __**everything**__ I take? _

_Kat and Alice have the same schedule as you too, _her mind stated.

_Well that's different._

_Well…they're __**them**__! The __**Marauders**__!_

_Oh please._

Lily ignored the comment and marched into the room and seated herself next to Kat and Alice.

They talked for a while until Professor McGonagall called for order and out of the corner of her eye, she saw James glance her way. Lily glared back, muttered "pig", and suddenly took a great interest in the lettering of her textbook. James saw all that and couldn't help but chuckle.

"Alright, alright, settle down. Now this year, we'll be doing a lot of more advance transfiguring so don't think I'll lighten up on homework. There'll never be less of what you have now, only more," McGonagall firmly stated. Groans filled the room and the professor rolled her eyes. "Oh quit your complaining. Now if everyone would turn to page 268…"

"Ok, so for next week you have an essay due and read up to chapter 6 of your textbook. Class dismissed," McGonagall ended the class with a swift flick of her wand. Students gathered up their supplies and hurried out of the classroom, rushing to their next class.

"Homework on the first day back? That's unacceptable," Sirius pouted, arms crossed on his chest. "I want to speak with the bloke in charge,"

James laughed at his friend. "You mean Dumbledore?"

"Well- no…no of course not-"

"Don't worry mate, I won't tell. Don't sweat it," James grinned, patting Sirius on the back.

"Alright. Thanks," color and relief filled the handsome boy's face.

"Let's go. Moony and Pete are waiting," James motioned towards the door.

"You just want to catch up with Evans don't you?" Sirius asked smugly.

"No, I'm not going to make myself look like I'm chasing her. If she's going to like me, it's not going to be because I've been following her around for the last seven years and she's had enough of it and the only way for it to stop is to go out with me. I'm not desperate," James said sincerely.

"Yeah you are…" Sirius mumbled.

"She'll just have to come to like me on her own- and she will," he grinned.

"Wow Prongs, you've become wiser over the summer and I was with you the whole time. How could I've not noticed?" Sirius teased. "You've grown up so fast," he faked wept.

"Why thank you Mother," James said, acting flattered. "Now let's go. We're going to be seriously late," and the two best friends walked out the door.

"You're not going to tell Dumbledore about what I said right? Nothing…? You positive…?" Sirius asked nervously and they were gone.

**Really short this time, I know, but I found time to update so I did but it's not a lot. This is probably one of the lamer chapters if I may say so myself, but please give me feedback on any specific chapter or the whole story. I just reread it a few times and I have to say…it pretty sucks. This chapter is probably **_**really bad**_** but please don't give up on it. I promise it'll probably- alright most likely…ok it ****will**** be better next time so just bear with me! Thanks for reading and please review! =)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N- So sorry I couldn't update real soon. I had writers block for a few weeks (and only on the fifth chapter?) yeah. Thanks for all the support and please review; I wasn't getting much feedback from the last few chapters so I'd greatly appreciate some reviews to see how I'm doing. Thanks! =) and happy really belated Mother's Day!**

After a busy hectic night of trying to catch up on homework _already, _the two witches, Lily and Kat, resignedly entered the Great Hall for breakfast. Alice, being the early bird she was, had gotten up early and went down to breakfast, not bothering to wake up her roommates. The two other girls were left to shake each other senseless until the other woke up; not able to afford being late.

Kat pointed at a certain brunette chatting lively with Frank Longbottom, her food untouched. The two girls walked over quickly and sat down across from the two lovebirds. Frank nodded slightly towards them in greeting, while Alice either didn't notice their arrival or simply ignored them and continued with what seemed to be a much more important conversation.

"Nice to see you too, Al," Kat mumbled, irritated. Katherine was not a morning person and hated being shaken awake. Lily noticed her grumpiness and looked around worriedly for something to cheer her up. The last thing she wanted was _the _death glare.

Her eyes wandered around the immense room, and glanced at the entrance of the Great Hall and saw something that she never would have thought would ease her worries; the Marauders.

"Hey look Kat, its Remus," Lily whispered into her friend's ear, who was unenthusiastically picking at her eggs. Kat lifted up her head and after a while of searching, her eyes lit up and she quickly began to fix her hair. By the time the foursome reached the table, Kat had totally transformed from a mad cow (**A/N- I heard this somewhere once…) **to a happy witch with a giant glowing smile on her face. She patted the seat next to her invitingly as Lupin sat next to her and began their own conversation.

"Oi Frankie, didn't bother to wake us up, did you?" Sirius commented, earning himself no response and started to stuff his face and plate with food. Peter himself timidly sat down next to Remus and filled his own plate quietly, glancing around nervously now and then.

"I woke you up!" he suddenly piped up.

"Hmm? Oh…well yeah, thanks Pete," Sirius replied after having to think of the person who was, earlier, jumping on his bed, trying to 'help him not be late for class'. After being chased around the dormitory and running for his dear life, Peter vowed himself never to wake a sleepy Padfoot up. If he wanted to be late for class, let him; Peter wasn't going to risk his _life _to get his friend _out of bed. _Right now though, all signs of fear were gone and the tiny boy was grinning widely, happy to finally do something right.

"Hey uh, Peter, if you keep that smile up, it's going to end up stuck there," Remus said. "Hurry up and eat breakfast before we're late for Transfiguration…"

"Huh? Oh, okay…"

James quietly sat himself next to Lily and began to fill his plate. Lily took no notice of him and continued with her food, until she noticed that there was no bloody annoying voice pelting her with the same question over and over. She looked up at James, who was carefully filling his platter with what was around him, bewildered. No 'Will you go out with me?' or 'Me, you, Hogsmeade?' She must've been staring at him for a while because James soon felt eyes peering at him and turned around, looking at Lily curiously.

"What?"

"Don't you 'what?' me!" she exclaimed. "This is where you go 'Go on a date with me?' and all that annoying questioning of yours," Lily said, eyeing him expectantly.

"What? You want to?" James glanced at her, wondering where this was all going.

"Pfft. Ask me again when pigs fly," Lily scoffed, returning to her breakfast and developed a sudden interest in her bacon, her cheeks flushed. James chuckled.

"Alright then; when pigs fly,"

"Shut up,"

**DT**

"Okay class, today we'll be starting our unit on the patronus charm. Any of you know what it is, what it's for, and how you can properly conjure it?" asked Professor Purdle, the DADA professor.

Lily's hand shot up in the air instantly.

"Typical Evans for you," she heard Sirius mumble from behind. "Still hasn't changed has she?" Lily turned towards and gave him a menacing glare.

"Looks like you haven't either, Black," she hissed.

"Ms. Evans?" Purdle called as she turned around to face the front of the class.

She recited, "A patronus is an incarnation of a caster's positive feelings such as hope or a desire; used as a protector for the caster and to drive away dementors, though it is also sometimes used to send messages to other witches and wizards. It can only be successfully summoned when the conjuror is concentrating on a happy, enjoyable memory," She took a breath after saying that mouth-full.

"Excellent Ms. Evans; ten points for Gryffindor. Now, can anyone actually produce a patronus? I'm not expecting anyone to be able to; it's very diffi- Mr. Potter?" the teacher asked, surprised. "You can conjure one?"

"Yes sir," James replied confidently; you could hear the smile in his voice. Lily whipped her head around, along with the rest of the class, her red hair a flying blanket of flames. Could a _Marauder_ actually do something that even the greatest wizards sometimes have trouble with?

"Really now? Well, would you please demonstrate to the class? Come on, up here," the professor motioned to the front of the room.

James glanced around the room cautiously and strode forward to the front. He looked around the classroom from where he was and his eyes landed on Lily. He smiled and closed his eyes in concentration. You would think he had fallen asleep, standing up but he soon said in a loud, clear voice, "Expecto Patronum!" and a silvery cloud of mist flowed out of the tip of his wand, forming a stag, who galloped across the vast room. Students looked up in awe and when the male deer dissolved in the air, they applauded widely as the professor clapped him on his back.

"Fantastic Mr. Potter!" Purdle exclaimed as James sauntered back to his seat, a smile glowing on his face. Lily scowled; she completely, absolutely _loathed_ not being at the top of the class, and not being able to master what that _prat_ could was just bloody dreadful. "Class, quiet down. Now, I want all of you to pair up and work on the charm. Get going, you have until the end of class,"

Kat hurriedly grabbed Lily's arm excitedly after Alice rushed to Frank's side. "Partners?" she asked. Lily smiled and nodded. Out of nowhere, Kat received a light tap on her shoulder and as she turned around, came face to face with James Potter.

"Looks like Moony needs a partner," James smirked, motioning in Lupin's direction, who was, indeed, partner-less. Kat looked at Lily and the redhead gave her a reassuring smile before hurrying over to the other side of the room.

James looked at Lily expectantly and said, "Alright partner, let's see what you got,"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "What about you?" she replied.

"I already know it; was Lilykins not paying attention during class?" he faked gasped in horror.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "Show off," she muttered.

"Am not! Though that was a pretty good stag don't you think?" the young wizard smirked.

"Quit bragging before your giant face explodes," she retorted and closed her eyes to concentrate. _Happy thoughts…happy thoughts..._Her mind flashbacked to the time when Petunia was still her best friend and didn't think of her as a _freak_. After feeling a surge of confidence, Lily said loudly, "Expecto Patronum!" She opened her eyes and found a tiny river of silver mist flowing out of her wand but not forming into anything. She closed her eyes and tried again, getting the same result. Lily groaned in frustration and whipped her wand around wildly, almost smacking James right in the face.

"Hey, hey; you're going to behead someone before class is over if you keep that up. Here…" James's face became serious and he studied Lily's stance. Lily felt awkward, standing in one position and then having someone scrutinize her.

"Alright," James said finally. "Evans, hold your wand looser; you're going to break it in half soon with all the pressure you have on it, and maybe try another happy thought too; the one you had before might not have been strong enough. Lastly, calm down. You get frustrated, you don't get a patronus. Try again,"

Lily stared at James for a moment; how did that bloke know all this stuff? She closed her eyes, calming and blanking her mind, and thought of another happy memory.

Her mind swam through memory after memory, not finding one that was supposedly happier than the one with Petunia. Suddenly Lily's eyes snapped open and heard someone whisper "Hogwarts, Lily…you love it here…Hogwarts…" She turned around and looked accusingly at James, who was waiting for her to attempt at the charm. She squeezed her eyes shut one more time and thought of what the person had said, Hogwarts. She took that in for a minute and then thought that whoever told her all the 'Hogwarts…you love it here…' thing, was right! Hogwarts was her second home and she would much rather be here than anywhere else. Her friends were the best and even though the Marauders could get a little annoying, sometimes it was nice to have them by. Hogwarts made her happy.

"_Expecto Patronum!"_

**DT**

"I did it! My first patronus!" Lily exclaimed for about the fiftieth time that hour. "And-"

"-it was a doe," Alice finished for her for also about the fiftieth time that hour. "Lils, we're happy for you, really, but saying it over and over again-"

"What Al wants to say is- WOULD YOU JUST BLOODY STOP ALREADY!" Kat exploded. The shout echoed through the empty halls and Katherine had her fists clenched, harshly breathing in and out. You could imagine steam flowing out of her ears and I'm pretty sure there was.

"Huh? Oh…alright then…" Lily said softly, glancing at Kat. "Well, how did yours go?" she asked suddenly cheerful.

"Oh…well, ok I guess, though all I got was silver mist flowing out of mine," Kat said, surprised at the sudden mood change and glad that the ranting on and on about her first patronus was over.

"Really? Well, you'll do better, I'm sure. But did you see? I did my first patronus! It was a doe and-" Lily went on and on again.

Kat, who looked like she just might smack someone in the face, groaned and continued to trail slowly behind. Alice smiled and whispered in her ear. "Let's go to lunch, I think I saw Remus go into the Great Hall," Kat's eyes lit up and she skipped the rest of the way there, abandoning Lily and Alice. Alice caught up to Lily and tried to keep up. "You're really happy about this right?" she asked and glanced at the redhead, who stared at her with the "really?" look"on her face. "Don't answer that. Shouldn't you go thank James? He is the one that helped you," This stopped Lily in her tracks and she turned to look at the brunette clearly.

"Repeat that?" Lily said, shaking her head to clear her mind.

"Go thank James. Come on Lils, just go. I mean, what has he done to you lately? Blimey, he hasn't even asked you out yet! James Potter's changed- he isn't the annoying, dopey person you knew before. He really is a good guy; give him a chance," Alice urged.

_That's what I said, but did she listen? No- doesn't even listen to her own conscience..._

_Oh shut up._

Though what Alice had said, as much as Lily hated admiting it, was true. Should she really give him a chance? Her best friend just told her to and her own mind's been against her ever since the beginning of the year. The young witch thought back to the time when James stood up for her during the 'mudblood' incident, recently on the Hogwarts Express, and just this morning, he had helped her master the patronus charm, when he didn't have to at all, dur to the countless number of insults she'd shot at him. Maybe it was time to change her ways a little, just a _little_, but it would take a while…or maybe not. She'd have to find out herself.

"Alright,"

**A/N- Again, I'm so sorry for the late update. So I got a question and I need your guys' help; should I go "BOOM" Lily and James= friends in the next chapter or the one after OR prolong it and do it later in the story? It's your guys' decision so what comes next is all up to you. You can send me a DM or just add it on a review but I kind of need to know soon or else I'm going to write something that maybe everyone will hate. And just a btw- if I add the friendship now or later does NOT affect how long the story will be. So if you say 'let them become friends now!' the story will still stay around the same length as when you say 'do the friends later!' Like I said, I didn't get much feedback from the last few chapters so it'd be AWESOME if you reviewed (especially for this chapter; what to you want next?) Thanks so much!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N- Chapter Six! =) Happy Summer! Almost three weeks since my last chapter…wow. So sorry for updating late! I'm trying my best and it helps the most when I suddenly get this 'spark of inspiration'; that's when I **_**really **_**start to write. Thanks for all the reviews and support, it is AWESOME 3 and I truly, seriously appreciate all of it. Alright- enjoy!**

James and his posse bustled into the Great Hall for dinner with Sirius leading the troop going "Tonight they're serving the thing and the other thing and…and…" over and over.

"Someone's hungry," Remus mumbled. "and it's not like he skipped lunch…"

Peter glanced nervously at his seemingly famished friend and asked "Hey Remus, what's the 'thing' Sirius is going on about? I've never heard of it; it's not deadly or anything right? No hazardous contents…nothing?"

Lupin chuckled "Ah, don't worry Pete, nothing in there that can _kill_," which caused Peter to gape at him. Didn't really help did it?

"Nothing that can _kill_? But then…that means…" the small boy started to whimper.

James glanced at his tiny companion and laughed quietly to himself. "Don't worry. There's nothing in the food that can harm you the least bit…that I know of," he added softly to himself, not wanting to be the cause of Peter not eating or touching anything edible in the future. Then louder he called, "Hey Padfoot, quit it with the chanting; you're scaring Peter,"

"What? Oh c'mon Wormy, they've got the thing and the other thing…" the handsome boy sat himself down on the bench and marveled at the food, oblivious to scaring his friend. "Alrightie then, what should I get first, the thing or the other one…" James shook his head, smiling.

"Mind if we join you?" a voice asked from behind. Without waiting for an answer, Alice shoved Sirius to the right ("Hey!") like it was something you do all the time, and seated herself right next to Frank while Katherine quietly sat next to Remus, giving him a warm smile.

Lily, finding herself with no choice but to sit next to James; unless the redhead wanted to seat herself next to Alex Ramirez, who wasn't a bad person; it was just that he was also very good friends with Michael Pursh, a Ravenclaw whom she had dated in her fifth year. After getting to know him a little better, well…let's just say she wasn't a big fan of Mike anymore. Though that didn't stop him- if he himself couldn't get to Lily, he'd get his friends to do it for him. All in all, it'd be pretty aggravating to sit next to Alex.

The redhead filled her plate and started eating when she noticed that it was quiet…no one was pestering her for anything…at all. She turned to look at James who was happily munching on his treacle tart, a warm smile in greeting; nothing else. Lily pushed her lips upwards; not much of a smile but she intended on it to be one. Did it actually bother her that _the_ James Potter wasn't pelting her with new date arrangements every week? No of course not- she always hated him and always would…right?

**DT**

"I got to go; got an essay to finish," Lily announced after hastily finishing her dinner.

Alice looked up from her plate with her eyebrows raised. "The one from McGonagall?"

"What else?" the redhead replied, gathering up her bag.

"Aw Lily, that isn't due until next Friday…" Katherine whined. "Stay for awhile, you have a week to finish it," but the brunette already knew there was no stopping her; this was _the _Lily Rebecca Evans, the one who no one could stop after she set her mind on starting on _homework_.

"Thanks but no thanks. I want to get that Transfiguration essay out of the way. See you," and Lily left, her long red hair swishing behind her.

Alice and Kat looked at each other, shrugged, and the six students left continued on with their own conversations. A few minutes after Lily had departed, James stood up and gathered up his belongings too.

Sirius looked up from his food (for the first time since he had been pushed out of the way) and at him. "Where're you going?"

"Common room; see you guys later," and out the door he went.

"What do you think he's up to?" Remus whispered to Sirius, once he was gone, his eyes still lingering at the Great Hall entrance.

"I have a pretty good idea…" he mumbled back, smiling.

"Kat and I are going to head on up to the common room, see you later?" Alice said suddenly as she and her friend stood up from their seats, getting ready to go upstairs.

"Oh, hang on; wait a minute," Sirius said hurriedly. "You must be tired from all the walking from class to class all day-"

"-and Black, you care because…?" Katherine asked, eyebrows raised.

The handsome boy ignored the comment. "Here, why don't we take a shortcut up to your dormitory? No need to past through the common room if there's a shortcut right? Here- you guys are all done?" he asked his friends.

"Well yeah but-"

"Well, c'mon then. Now if we just go here…" _Wow…_Remus thought. _I think we've just witnessed the first time ever Sirius has left the table without finishing his food…Must be important…_

After many twists and turns in the unfamiliar hallway, Sirius finally led the group to dark, abandoned corridor and took out a old, crumbled piece of parchment. Lupin's eyes grew wide as he finally realized what his friend was holding. Sirius caught his warning look and mouthed 'Don't worry', took out his wand, tapped the piece of paper with it, and whispered, "_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,"_

"Sure looks like it…" Kat mumbled, looking around at the peculiar place.

"Oh be quiet,"

"Hey, what are you doing anyway? Whispering to yourself, crouched over in that corner. Come out of there and get us out of _here_!" the young witch demanded; she wasn't much of a fan of being in the dark.

"Geez; fussy much? Alright, so if we go through here…aha- c'mon, you wanted to get out of here right? Move it Lukowski,"

"Hmph," but Kat obeyed and walked down the eerie passage. After a few minutes of constantly looking behind her back for anything that might jump out of no where, Katherine and the rest of the cluster found themselves staring at the familiar sets of stairs, each leading to either the boys' or girls' dormitory.

"We're here,"

"I can see that," Katherine snapped.

"Well someone's in a bad mood…no thank you kiss or anything? If it weren't for me, you all would still be stuck in that old bloody hallway. You people have no heart," Sirius replied, pouting.

"He's such a git…" Remus muttered. "Well, goodnight Kat," a cheerful smile appeared on his face.

Katherine tore herself from the death glare she had been giving Sirius that past minute and looked up. "Oh! Night Remus," she said, smiling warmly. "Thanks Sirius," she said icily, turning around and staring him down.

"You're welcome," He replied, smiling happily, oblivious to the chilling glower Kat was giving him. Alice and Frank bid each other goodnight while Peter was hiding behind Lupin, trembling at the sight of Kat and the girls and boys parted ways, heading off towards their respective dormitories.

"Hey, why did you use the map? Couldn't we just go the regular way upstairs; _through the common room_?" Remus asked Black quizzically. "And where's James?"

"Yeah Sirius, where's he?" Peter piped up.

The handsome boy chuckled heartily and replied, "I have a good feeling we shouldn't bother him or worry; something tells me we'll probably find out tomorrow," and as if James could hear him, he thought, _Prongs, you __**so **__owe me._

**So what's James up to? Find out in the next chapter! From the next chapter on, Lily and James should be pretty close to, if not already, being friends. Ah…and good ol' Sirius. It's just not possible to not like him. The story on the other hand, is different. It can be possible to hate. So…enjoyed it? Despised it? Need the feedback! Not on of my longest chapters but the next one should be up quick so…I was going to add it onto this chapter but then it'd be too long. After the next chapter though, it might be while until the next update- I hope not, but there might be. Thanks for reading and please, **_**please **_**review! =)**


	7. Chapter 7

**As promised, chapter seven- (updated at a very fast speed, which was also promised)! So what was James up to? Alright, alright; less talking, more reading (or for me- writing). I got it.**

Lily Evans scrunched up her eyebrows as she struggled to finish the wretched transfiguration essay. _Explain what Animagi takes form as, what is the process of becoming an Animagi, and what happens to unregistered animagus when they are caught._ And it had to be a meter long! _I know all this. _Lily thought, _but I can't put it into a whole essay for some reason… Leave it to my bloody brain to shut down when it's most needed… _

That wasn't the only thing that made her want to explode. _Say thanks to James, say it…say it…_the thought had been pestering her ever since Alice had brought it tried thinking against herself- _I've got an essay to finish, leave that until later, _but it didn't help…at all; and after yelling her head off to shut up, _inside_ her head, she found out that _that _also didn't help. It just got her more and more frustrated with the bloody essay. So after the having the thought harass her for what seemed like the billionth time, the redhead thought of one other unlikely helpful tactic.

"Go away," she said. Ask nicely, well sort of...Lily was still hunched over the miserable piece of parchment, which was practically blank except for the line on the very top that read- Lily Evans.

"I hope you're not talking to me?" a voice asked, smiling from behind. Lily jumped up from her chair, causing the ink to spill all over the blank parchment. Without even looking, she knew who the idiot that destroyed her paper was.

"POTTER!" she roared. Lily turned around slowly, looking ready to kill, her eyes piercing every inch of him. James looked at her and smiled weakly.

"What?" he replied sheepishly, "No reason to get all brutal about it- nothing a little spell work can't fix; _Evanesco,_" and with a flick of his wand, all the ink disappeared, and the blank paper was back, staring at them intently. _I think I would've liked the ink on the parchment better- at least there was something on it…_Lily thought, glaring at the piece of paper that had caused her so much chaos.

"Oh, so everything's so easy in little Potter's world huh?" Lily snapped, now her eyes focused on James. "_Nothing a little spell work can't fix?_ It all works perfectly out for you doesn't it- James Potter wants this, oh well, here it is; James Potter wants that, well here you go. Isn't that how it goes? You disgust me," she muttered and went back to finish the paper.

What was that all about? He accidentally spilled ink on her paper and he cleaned if off with a spell- was there a problem with that? It's not like any muggle contraption could've done it better. And now she's mad at him?

"Alright, fine, I'll leave you to deal out your…uh…issues…" James mumbled, staring at her back quizzically; he wasn't a person that got mad easily and that little spat she had was probably just from something that was bothering her. And he understood what it was like- he'd have those times too, where he just wanted everyone to go away, move to France or something…but then he'd get slapped upside the head by Sirius. Right now though, he got the message loud and clear- Leave me alone.

James was just about to head off for his dormitory when a soft and much calmer voice sighed and said, "Sorry," He turned around and found himself still facing Lily's back; she herself still staring at the wall. "I just have a lot of things going on…and well, now there's this cursed essay I can't even start writing…" she groaned and banged her head against the desk.

James slowly made his way back towards her, not sure if it was safe yet- who knows? Any minute now she could grab and throw a book at him. He pretended to gasp in horror, "WHAT? Our _Lily Evans_ doesn't know how to start out her essay? I don't believe it…" Lily smiled into the desk and lifted her head up, still not making eye contact. James swiftly walked over, "So what's this amazingly hard topic that even smart-aleck Lily can't figure out?"

She decided to ignore the side-comment and answered, "Animagus,"

James blinked twice before the full word registered into his mind and then grinned. "You're in luck, I happen to be amazing at this subject,"

"You are?" Lily asked, slightly annoyed; James Potter was better at something than she was…though it was probably bound to happen someday.

"Yes I am, and I'm at your service. So what are the questions…" and the two worked their hardest from midnight to early morning. After writing and rewriting things over and over, at about 6 AM, they were officially done. It was a meter long, they'd answered all the questions to the best of their abilities and now, both of them were lazily lying on the couch, struggling to keep they're eyes opened.

"So we're done?" James asked finally, yawning.

"Pretty much…thanks," Lily added softly.

"You're welcome," he replied lazily.

_That's not the only thing you need to thank him for. Say thanks, say it…say it._ Her mind started to pester her again. _Say it…say it…_

_ALRIGHT FINE! NOW WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP!_ Lily snarled inside her head. She glanced at James who was taking a last look at the paper, took a deep breath, and said, "That's not the only thing I need to thank you for, not just for the help on the essay- thanks for everything; the patronus tutoring and staying up this late to help with the homework. It's really great and…" she stifled a yawn. "I'm really sorry for the whole lot; all the times I've exploded at you, everything- you've been so nice and forgiving; I mean if it were me, I would've hated anyone who was like that and-"she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, don't tire yourself out. It's fine. Really; I enjoy all this 'time to prove I'm smarter than Lily Evans' sort of things. It's not like it's a burden or anything, helping people gives me the feeling of pleasure…unless I'm helping other _certain_ people, well then…" James replied, smiling warmly.

Lily looked up, "Friends?" she actually looked worried of what the answer might be.

"Of course," he replied as she broke into a grin.

"Thanks…James," she replied happily and closed her eyes and sighed deeply as if a heavy weight that was once placed upon her was now lifted. "You're still an idiot," she mumbled.

"Diva,"

"Prat,"

"Know-it-all,"

"and proud of it!" she replied.

"Sure you are," he responded, smiling. James got up slowly and started up the stairs, expecting his friend to be right behind him, when he saw Lily laying in the chair, asleep. He quietly crept back down the staircase and slowly approached her. "Hey…Lily…Lily…you can't fall asleep here, it'll get too noisy in about an hour; we can go back to our dormitories and then you can sleep as much as you want. Lily…" the redhead stirred and her eyes slowly opened.

"Huh…? Oh…ok…" she got up slowly and very unsteadily and leaned on James's shoulder as he guided her way up. He slowly opened the door to the girls' dormitory and quietly set Lily (who he was now carrying) down on her bed.

"Goodnight Lily," he kissed the top of her forehead and slowly backed out of the room.

"'Night James," she sighed and slowly drifted into deep sleep.

**DT (i just added this today to every chapter that i think needed it and if you dont know wat it means or why its here, i explained why i put it here in around the middle of the first three chapters in bold. thanks!)**

"OI MATE! GET UP!" Sirius exclaimed the next morning, jumping on James's bed. He opened his eyes, looked at the clock, and groaned.

"Go away, it's only 9…" he muttered and covered his face with the blanket.

"_Only 9?_ What happened to 'I get up everyday at 7 in the morning, James'?"

"'I get up everyday at 7 in the morning, James' is TIRED," he mumbled and tried to go back to sleep. "Go look for Remus and Peter,"

"But they're downstairs eating breakfast. So what were you and Evans doing all last night Prongsies? I'm not leaving 'till you tell me!" his friend sang, oblivious to the boiling rage bubbling inside James. "I hope our little Jamesie didn't do anything-" Sirius's words were cut off as a pillow flew from under the covers, and smacked him right in his face. "OW!"

"If you really must know, I helped her with homework and I just got to sleep 3 hours ago. I'm TIRED!" he bellowed. "Go downstairs and stuff your face with food like you always do…"

"_You helped her with homework?_ Oh ho ho…so you two are together now?" Sirius asked, ignoring the last comment, a mischievous grin on his face. Another pillow flew out from under the covers and sent Sirius flying off the bed. "Where does he get so many…?"

"No, we're just friends and Lily's probably in bed too so don't you go off bothering her. NOW GO AWAY!" he hollered.

"Oh…friends…?" he mused. Suddenly, a third pillow appeared on top of the covers, aimed at Sirius's face. "Alright, alright, I'll leave. You could've just asked nicely. See you later?" he asked and without waiting for an answer, strode out of the room, muttering, "Friends…? Hmm…" James sighed a breath of relief and fell back into deep sleep, dreaming of the night before.

**Yeah, mor****e of a fluff chapter this time- and yay! They're finally FRIENDS! So like it, hate it? Which do you choose? Btw- I won't be updating for a while 'cause I'm kinda busy. Anyway, please, please review and thanks for reading! =)**


	8. Chapter 8

**I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I was busy for a while and then **_**completely**_** lost track of time. So if you're reading this; THANK YOU SO MUCH! I'll stop talking now- hope you enjoy it!**

"Lily…Lily…LILY!" her friend Kat yelled for what seemed like the billionth time. She'd been trying to get her friend up for the past 10 minutes and the only responses she'd received were two pillows in the face and a weary 'go away'. "Get up Lily; you're never in bed this late,"

"There's a first time for everything," she replied, her voice muffled from under the covers. "Look, I went to sleep two hours ago- naturally, I'd be tired wouldn't I? Now I'm asking nicely one last time- please go away," even though her voice was subdued from under the blanket, the last comment was loud and clear- it sounded pretty deadly too.

"Just give me a minute before you start ripping my insides out- what were you doing all night? And half the morning?" Kat asked suspiciously, not even daunted by the deadly remark her friend made.

"I was doing homework…with James," she said the last part as softly and as quickly as she could. The redhead was fully awake and alert now, wanting to know if Kat heard all of it or not- if she didn't, it wasn't like she was lying to her; she simply said it almost inaudible and it was too bad that her ears couldn't pick it up. "Enough about what I was doing, why don't you go down for breakfast and find Al? I'm sure she'd be happier to see you than I am right now," she added quickly.

"Can I get that last part again?" her friend replied quizzically, ignoring the change in subject.

"I'm sure Al would be happier to see you than I am right now…?" the redhead mumbled.

"The other one,"

"I was doing homework?" Lily replied again, trying to act like she didn't know what was coming.

"After that…"

"With…James?" she muttered quietly.

"YES! Finally; now wait a minute- you were doing homework with JAMES? And you called him JAMES and not Potter? Blimey Lily, what happened?"

"Maybe if you leave, I might tell you. Now GET OUT. You know what happened last night so please GO," she snapped. For a girl who went to bed only a few hours ago, Lily still had a lot of energy left to demand people around multiple amount of times.

"This is unbelievable…what did you do? Knock yourself in the head with a bludger a few times?" her friend continued on.

"GO-"

"Alright, alright, I'll leave- but don't think I'm going to leave you alone now. Once you're up, I'm going to pelt you with questions to no end. Sleep tight!" Katherine added cheerfully and slammed the door shut, making a loud BANG.

"YOU COULD'VE BEEN GENTLER WITH THE DOOR!" Lily shouted from underneath the blankets but received no response. She sighed happily, as finally, all was quiet and drifted into deep sleep.

**DT**

Later that day, Lily trudged down the stairs slowly, not wanting to face the peering eyes and curious questioning that laid ahead for her. No doubt by now, Kat's big mouth would've notified the whole school that Lily Evans and James Potter were now on friendly terms. How would she answer the questions? "Well, I was doing homework and suddenly realized what a jerk I was these last few years,"? That wouldn't get them to stop asking things, for sure. How would she withstand all the staring faces and attention? Sure, if she scored the highest in the class and got attention for that, Lily wouldn't mind..._much_- but for becoming friends with someone you've loathed for the past six years; that would be a little awkward. Lily was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard her name being called.

"Lily! Lily!" she turned around and grinned broadly when she found her new friend walking swiftly towards her. "Did you just get up too?" James Potter asked, his clothes wrinkled and hair messy as always.

"Yup, and it looks like you just did too," Lily replied, eyeing him up and down.

"Mhmm; that noticeable huh? Hey, it looks like we're just in time for lunch- want to go?" he asked, looking at the clock.

"And face all the stares and questions on why we're so friendly all of a sudden? Bring it on," she muttered, rolling her eyes. James chuckled, grabbed Lily's hand, and led the two inside.

The Great Hall was filled with chatter, each person deep inside their own conversation. At first, Lily thought that it wouldn't be so bad- since the first two seconds of their arrival hadn't lured anyone or any eyes to them…yet; but then, all conversations came to a pause as eyes after eyes landed on the twosome. Soon, the hall was filled with whispers and pointing- "There they are- Lily and James; from what I've heard, they're_ friends_. Amazing isn't it?" Lily averted her eyes from the curious school and hurried James and herself over to their friends, who quickly made spots for them on the bench, though they themselves also looked pretty flabbergasted. Lily sat down quietly and lowered her head over her plate. After a few very discomfited minutes, some students went back to their own discussions, and soon enough, the room was once again filled with buzzes from discussions being made. Still, Lily whispered as a precaution, "Is anyone still staring?"

"Not that I know of," Remus replied, a smile in his voice. "C'mon Lily, no one's looking,"

She slowly lifted her head up and looked around cautiously before she finally heaved a sigh of relief. Lily started to fill her plate when she felt eyes peering at her. She looked behind herself several times only to find everyone deep in their own conversations. Turning around quickly to continue on with her lunch, Lily noticed that the table was really quiet- even Alice and Frank weren't off in their own little world. She slowly looked up to find her five friends all smiling…and staring at her expectantly.

"Remus, you said no one was looking!" she growled. Can't they leave her to her own lunch?

"Key word- _was," _he answered smugly.

"So…?" Alice grinned widely, acknowledging for her friend to go on. Suddenly, realization hit the young girl and she groaned, her head falling into her hands.

"Not you guys too!" she complained, eyes wide. It was bad enough that the whole school wanted information on Lily's personal life; now her friends too?

"What? If you want the rest of the school to back off, we completely understand, but keep it from us? That's something we _cannot_ let you do. Now talk Evans, your new friend, Prongs here, only told me you two did homework…and became friends, but that, the whole school knows, don't they?" Lily glared at James, who smiled sheepishly. _What could I've done?_

"Well Black, I'm sorry to disappoint you but that's all that really happened. He helped with homework, I realized I had been a bloodly idiot to him, apologized, and here we are now. Caught on, have you?" she replied coolly. Without another word, she swiftly finished her lunch, excused herself from the table and left the Great Hall.

"Attitude, she's got," Sirius chuckled, shaking his head. "So…Prongs…?" he turned around slowly to face his friend, smirking, along with the rest of the group. "There has got to be more to what Lily said. I give you permission to continue with the story. Go on,"

"What? No, there's nothing more. Storytime's over for little Padfoot and you lot," James motioned towards them. When no one moved, all still looking at him in anticipation, he stood up. "There's nothing left to tell…now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. I'll see all you guys later…hopefully a lot later," he added quietly to himself and quickly exited the place…followed by Sirius.

"C'mon Prongsie! There's got to be more! We wont tell anyone- well, it might make the front page of the Daily Prophet but... we're all friends here…ack PRONGS! Wait! James!"

"There's nothing left to tell Sirius, go away! No…no…leave now! I'm serious…ah don't you start on that 'no _I'm_ Sirius!' junk. No Padfoot! Bad dog!" their two voices lingered in the air as they chased each other around the castle. What can you say? They _are _the best of friends.

**Again- I am terribly sorry for such a late update. Forgive me; I totally lost track. To make it all up, I'm going to try an update the next chapter sometime this week. So what did y'all think? Lily and James facing their first day of friendship- Didn't go so smoothly huh? So…like it? Hate it? Thanks for reading and please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**So here's the next chapter as promised! Enjoy!**

Not soon after, most of the "James and Lily are friends! GASP!" commotion died down and both Lily and James were able to get around the castle without being attacked by students. Now seeing the twosome together without daggers on each other was typical.

Soon most of the students were use to the busy schedules, and getting from class to class on time wasn't as hard as it was a month ago. All traces of summer disappeared as red and orange trees took its place. The middle of fall also meant that Quidditch tryouts and Hogsmeade trips would soon be held; along with many other activities.

"I here you're the new quidditch captain?" Lily asked James one morning after seeing a quidditch flyer on the wall.

"Yup- and proud of it!" he exclaimed and immediantely standing up straighter, a confident gleam in his eyes. "I'll tell you what though, if Sirius doesn't stop playing around with the badge by the time practice starts, with that expression of his-" he stopped and made a dumbfounded look on his face which made Lily laugh, "- I'll have to kick him off the team as Seeker; imagine what would happen to the team then," he mused.

"That would not be good would it…?" Lily replied. Sure, Sirius was probably the most idiotic bloke out there but he was one heck of the seeker. Kick him off the team and Gryffindor could probably just about say goodbye to the Quidditch Cup.

"Hey look, the first hogsmeade trip of the year is this Saturday! You guys want to join us?" James suddenly asked, pointing at another flyer.

**Third- Seventh Years;**

**The 1****st**** Hogsmeade trip of the year is scheduled for October 8****th****. **

**All students must have permission slip signed by legal guardian to be able to go.**

**Students who don't have permission slips signed will be staying back at the castle.**

"Fine with me- you'll have to check up on Alice and Kat though," Lily informed.

"Oh come on- Kat's going to be with Remus the whole time- no doubt, and he's going to be with us- same with Frank. There's no need to check up on them. We'll all be going together then," he concluded. "So it's a date?"

"It's a date," Lily agreed, not paying attention to what she said.

The two soon arrived at their classroom and took their seats. Only then, in the middle of class, did Lily replay the conversation in her mind. It was much more pleasant, not having to insult each other 24/7 anymore.

"_So it's a date?"_

"_It's a date," wait…did I say date? I did? Aww no…Curse you, you big, bloody mouth. I'm doomed…pay more attention to your word choices won't you…_

This was the first time _ever_ that Lily Evans, couldn't pay attention in class.

**DT**

"James invited us to go to the next Hogsmeade with them," Lily said late in the afternoon, as she flopped herself on top of her bed. "Remus and Frank will be there," she added, just in case they decided to ditch her for something else.

"Alright then," Alice responded from her desk. Lily made no response and stared glumly at the ceiling. "Lils? Something wrong?" she asked, turning towards her friend.

"Quit bugging me about my personal life Al," she grumbled and turned face-down on the mattress.

"Ok but-"Alice started, surprised at the sudden sort-of outburst.

"Ok FINE- I'll tell you; you don't have to harass me about it-"

"Well I-"

"Phame fasked me if fe fanted fe go to Fogsmeade weef fis bunf and fi faid sure. Fen he fasked "fits a fate?" and I said "fits a fate" and fow, my five is fuined," she said, her voice muffled from the pillow and groaned.

"Lily get your head off the pillow; I didn't get a word you said-"

"I don't get it, what's the big deal?" Kat asked Lily.

"You understood all that?" Alice asked, surprised, but was ignored.

"I faid 'fits a fate'! I faid _'fits a fate'_! Fats what fe big feel is," Lily responded, words as confusing to Alice than ever.

"Well I don't think it's that bad-"Kat responded knowingly.

"Am I missing something here?" Alice exclaimed, her head spinning from what seemed to her like her friends talking in code. "You understand her?" she asked Kat.

"Well it wasn't that hard…"

"Hmph,"

"Anyway, Lily here was asked by James if we wanted to go to Hogsmeade with him and Sirius and all that. She said sure so James asked "It's a date?" and she replied saying "It's a date," Now, apparently, her life is ruined.

"Fell it fis-"Lily muttered, her head still buried under the pillow.

"And you got all that- just from 'fit foosh phato fat' or something like that?" Alice asked, still amazed.

"Like I said, it wasn't that complicated…"

"Lily, all you said was "it's a date,"-"

"FICFACTLY!" she exclaimed.

"She said exactly-"Kat whispered to Alice.

"I know what she said!" she snapped back. "Lily-"she said, turning towards her friend on the bed, "all you said was "it's a date". It could've meant anything! You're overreacting; it could mean that, now, you know, it's uh…an official date! As in a time to meet!" _nice save…_ "C'mon Lils, you're one of the top witches in the grade- you should be able to understand this! James probably thought of it as a "We'll see you there" thing. He didn't take the 'it's a date' thing any other way," Alice said softly.

"Are you sure?" Lily asked, finally peeling her face away from the pillow.

"Positive- you know James, he's not one to take everything everyone says literally,"

"Ok then…fu fies far fawsome. Forry I foverfreacted," she said, grinning; the last part was intentional just to bug Alice.

"Fits fofay-"Kat was cut off.

"YOU GUYS!" Alice shouted but cracked a smile. Lily grinned widely as she enveloped her friends in a tight hug.

"I'm going to go down to the library- look up something for homework," she announced after letting go.

"Alright- meet you for dinner at 6?" Kat asked, raising her eyebrow.

Lily started making her way out the room, but before leaving, called out, "It's a date,"

**Best friends…they're the best aren't they? Always there to help you and comfort you…even when they can't understand a word you're saying. =) Next chapter- Hogsmeade trip! Should get interesting…though I don't know when I can get it up, but I'll try my best. A little short too huh? Eh...sorry. So did ya like it? Despise it? Need your feedback! Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Heyy- btw, this is MyWorld4eva, I just changed my penname, so don't think that you're reading the wrong story- this is still Forever and Always. Anyhoo, enjoy!**

"Where are those boys…?" Kat mumbled, irritated- she wasn't one of those patient people, "They're late!"

"Kat, we've been waiting for only three minutes…" Alice replied slowly, eyebrows raised. "I wouldn't exactly call meeting someone only a minute or two later than planned _late,_"

"Well I would-" the edgy seventh year was cut off at the sight of James and Sirius coming their way. She turned towards them and growled, "You're LATE. We said to meet at ten and its ten O FIVE. Can you NOT read TIME?" she exclaimed.

"Whoa there Lukowski, it wasn't my fault," Sirius pointed towards James, "Little Jamesie here was getting his hair all pretty pretty for Evans over there," James blushed a furious shade of red and punched his best friend playfully. Lily, on the other hand, waved goodbye to the departing third years, pretending like she didn't hear anything.

"STILL- We said TEN and you guys were LATE-" Remus suddenly appeared next to them, Peter hurrying behind him.

"-sorry, but Peter here insisted on me to tell him the history of Grindelwald…" Remus motioned towards Peter, who smiled innocently. "Hope I'm not late,"

"Remus," Kat smiled warmly. "You're not late, just in time- come on," she led him towards the exit. She looked back at her other friends who stood there, dumbfounded. "What are you looking at? We can't afford to waste anymore time- LET"S GO!" she demanded and disappeared outside with Lupin.

"Unbelievable…" Sirius shook his head. "How you guys and Remus can stand her is truly a mystery…" he mumbled. "Well, let's all go then. We better hurry- before she bites our heads off and feasts on them for dinner tonight-"laughing, the five remaining seventh years headed out the door.

**DT**

"Aha, Honeydukes," Sirius said happily when they had arrived at the all too familiar place. "Race you to the chocolate frogs Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Can't race me if I'm already there!" James called out from somewhere deep inside the crowded store.

"Wha-?" he looked around and noticed that there was no one beside him- everyone had already gone inside to pick out their treats. "That's not fair- SAVE SOME FOR ME!" Sirius shouted and pushed his way through the store. "-Prongs you better save something for me or the last thing you'll see are going to be those every flavor jelly bean things- excuse me-"

"Hey look, Cauldron Cakes. Hmm…might as well take _all _of them and eat them _all by myself,_" James taunted, still somewhere inside the store.

"-Pardon me, coming through, desperate kid desperate for candy here- PRONGS! Wait 'till I get to you-JAMES!"

**DT (kind of a short part but I really wanted to add it) ;)**

After choosing candy from this section and that and trying very hard to not lose the very little willpower some people had, the Marauders and friends left the shop, each person with at least a bundle of candy in their arms.

"Where to next?" Alice piped up after walking for a few minutes in no designated direction.

"Leaves!" Lily suddenly called out.

"What?" Kat asked, perplexed.

"Evans doesn't like us; she wants us to leave," Sirius replied sadly, pretending of course.

"No you git!" the redhead smacked his head. "Leaves! Over there-" she pointed towards an open field which was covered with leaves in all colors.

"Thank you Captain Obvious," he replied, rubbing his head. "I can't believe you hit me…" he mumbled. "What exactly are you trying to say here? I don't exactly get this Lily-language,"

"Have you guys not done it before?" Lily exclaimed in awe. "The raking and then the jumping?"

"Have you not done this before? The talking and then the explaining?" Sirius countered.

"Don't make me…" Lily raised her arm.

"Sorry, sorry," Sirius crouched down low, awaiting the SMACK- but it never came.

"So you've never done it? Any of you?" she asked- everyone shook their heads 'no'. "Wow…alright then, c'mon! Its fun- I'll show you," and she ran towards the open field, her friends hurrying behind. Shortly, they made it and everyone found themselves surrounded with crisp, colorful foliage. "Alright, gather them up!" she exclaimed and started picking up leaves and putting them in a mound. Her friends stared at her strangly.

"This, Evans, is your definition of fun?" Sirius asked, clearly disappointed. "Worst Hogsmeades trip ever…"

"Just do it. You'll see," she replied, busy gathering leaves. Sirius looked at the others, who shrugged and soon all of them were engaged in the foliage picking. Eventually, after several what Sirius called 'leaf fights', the seven witches/wizards had almost picked all the leaves in a 400 meter radius and enough leaves to make three, big heaps.

"So now what?" James asked, wiping his forehead- it had been fun, but tiring.

"We jump," Lily replied, admiring their work.

"Jump where-" Sirius started.

"Into the pile, you ding-dong!" Lily retorted.

"And mess up _my _beautiful masterpiece? Well, I will not-" the handsome boy was cut off as he found himself being lifted up into the air. "What the- JAMES! No, not over the pile, not my beloved pile—go mess up Kat's or something- no, no PRONGS!" and down he went, buried underneath the huge mound as leaves flew everywhere. After a while, the others were able to dig him out and brush the leaves off, all the while, Sirius was going "That was bloody AWESOME! You have to do it again to me Prongs, you have to! If you don't, then I'll do it to myself- Wingardium Leviosa…wingardium levio-"

"Stand still Sirius!" Remus said exasperated, dusting leaves off his friends back. "You're acting like a bloody five year old…_they_ probably even behave better than you…"

"Who's next?" James asked and one by one, everyone went down into the leaves, levitated or just by jumping, and would come out looking like the new foliage monster- Sirius especially, whom everyone had levitated together and literally threw him into one of the piles, for his and their own amusement.

The sun soon started to set and the day was coming to an end and the group was exhausted. They all agreed that it was time to go, all except for Sirius, who just could not have enough of the jumping.

"Hey James," Sirius started as they all made their way back to the castle. "Maybe sometime, when we're at your house, we could do this again and use that muggle contraption of yours- the trampolingy thing, you know, launch ourselves from there. In the winter, we can make these huge snow mounds and then freeze ourselves to death by hurdling into them- what do you say mate?"

"Behave, and we'll see," he replied, laughing at the idea and grinning at the pleading look on his friends face.

"Alright but then we can do this-" and the seven friends continued on towards the sunset, their voices trailing behind them, heading in the direction of the castle. Lily thought of what Sirius had said before- _Worse Hogsmeades trip ever_. Says who?

**Like it? Not the longest chapter I've written, I know. =( I'll try and update soon but that might not happen…idk so we'll just have to see. I'd appreciate feedback! =)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry for the long wait! I was enjoying the summer too much ;) Enjoy!**

"James?" Lily caught up to him in the hall a few weeks after the Hogsmeade trip.

After they had gotten back to Hogwarts, Sirius had insisted over and over on taking sneak-outs back into the field with the 'You-Know-What' to which Alice had immediately questioned, "Voldemort?" The rambling would not have stopped if Remus hadn't threatened to take away the whole stash of chocolate frogs his friend had 'hidden', saying "Don't think we don't hear you having your little late-night rendezvous with them. We _know _where they are and I for one, am not afraid to eat them all myself,"

_Night of the trip to Hogsmeade_

"Not if I finish them all up first! Oh ho ho ho ho!" Sirius had replied and sprinted up the stairs. Everyone cringed when the loud BOOM echoed through the Gryffindor common room as he slammed the door shut to his domority.

"He's going to be up there for a while isn't he?" Kat had mumbled, still staring upwards towards the boys' dormitory.

"Let him be, he's not safe to be around when he's having one of his sugar rushes anyway. Just confine Sirius in a room for about an hour after, and he should be fine," Remus replied.

_End_

"Hi Lily," James smiled, absentmindedly running his hand through his messy locks.

"I was wondering- since we haven't done much Heads work besides patrolling the hallways, if we should plan a time to meet and discuss some things. Dumbledore's mentioned a Halloween party right?" her eyes scrunched up in concentration as she tried to recall the headmaster suggesting the party.

"Yeah, I think he did. Alright, hmm, how about tomorrow night at 8 in the common room?" he suggested.

"Alright. See you- and don't forget, we're patrolling tonight," Lily reminded before heading towards the common room.

"Oh right! Dang, um, Lily- do you mind asking someone to take my place for tonight? I uh…have stuff to do- some _very _important stuff," James spluttered, striving to act nonchalant. Lily turned around.

"Um…sure?"

"Thanks Lils, you're the best!" he said, relieved. James gave her a one-armed hug and hurried off in the other direction, leaving a certain redhead perplexed as ever.

**DT**

_Have to find someone to take James's place…_Lily thought as she walked towards the portrait hole. _Hmm, oh hey! Richard! Over here! Can't you hear me? Oh wait…I'm still thinking all this…well of course he can't hear you, you dope!_

She smacked herself in the face multiple amount of times for her stupidity when she heard a voice behind her say her name.

"Hey, uh Lily…? Something wrong…? Hello…? Lily…" someone called from behind. Lily turned around swiftly, her hair flying behind her, whipping the person in the face.

"Oh geez, um…sorry about that," she apologized sheepishly. Lily looked up and found herself facing Richard Thomas, known to most people as Tall Thomas for his height, a fellow Gryffindor, who was still recovering from the 'hair attack'.

"That's alright," he replied. Richard continued on awkwardly, "Is there something wrong? You were…uh, slapping yourself for a while…"

"Oh, well…heh, that's a long story," Lily sighed, embarrassed. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you- James won't be able to patrol tonight for Heads duties. Do you mind taking his place just for tonight?" she asked.

"Sure, no problem- 10:00 right?" he inquired.

"Yup, thanks Richard!" Lily thanked, glad that it didn't take a while to find someone to fill in. "See you tonight," He nodded and strode off into the common room.

That night, Richard appeared right on time and duties went smoothly, the two occasionally making small talk but never really getting anywhere.

As Lily went to bed that night, she noticed that the moon was extremely bright and round. _Full moon tonight, I guess, _she thought. The redhead went to sleep late- mostly due to the loud howling going on outside non-stop for a while, and woke up surprisingly early the next morning.

_Its only six, I'm up, and not even tired in the slightest. And it's the WEEKEND. What's happening to me…?_

She quietly made her way around the dormitory, trying her best no to wake up her sleeping roommates who were in deep sleep. Lily brushed her teeth, tied her hair into a ponytail and made her way downstairs to have an early breakfast.

Halfway down the stairwell, Lily was roughly caught by her shoulders and turned around- only to find herself facing Michael Pursh.

"Pursh," she jeered- maybe she should've stayed in bed after all…

"Lily flower," she winced at the familiar nickname. "Didn't know you got up this early too- and since when were we on surname basis? I thought that was you and, what do you call him now? James?" Michael sneered. They were uncomfortably close- Lily pushed him away brutally.

"That's Potter to you," she hissed. She swiftly turned in the direction of the Great Hall but was pulled back forcefully.

"Don't run away Lily, we-"

"Leave her alone,"

Lily and Michael turned around speedily, surprised at this new visitor, who happened to be the one and only, Severus Snape.

"Snap-"

"Be quiet Lily," he said, hostile- taking her by surprise. Snape turned around slowly, his eyes filled with menace. "I've said it once Pursh, and I'm going to say it again _one last time_," Lily was surprised at the new threatening Severus, the only other times she had seen him acting even close to this was with the Marauders and even then, it wasn't this ominous. "Leave. Her. Alone,"

Since now, Michael had all his attention on Snape, Lily jerked her hand away from his grip, and whipped her wand out, pointing it dangerously close to Pursh's face. Michael, since he was in Ravenclaw, was smart enough to back away and leave, aware that Lily was infamous for her Bat-Bogey Hex.

Long after, Lily and Snape put their wands back into their robes cautiously, still on the look-out for any unwanted intruders. Severus stuffed his wand into his pocket roughly and turned to head back towards the Slytherin common room.

"Thanks,"

He turned around slowly, surprised, his eyebrows arched in question- she hadn't spoken a word to him since the train incident. "No problem," he mumbled, looking down at his shoes, refusing to make any eye-contact whatsoever.

"It was nice to see you again Sev," Lily smiled and gave a small wave before heading in the direction of the Great Hall. Snape, relieved that his hair was covering his face, blushed furiously. _It was nice to see you again too. _

**DT**

"I swear, if this was something Moony could control, I'd kill him right now…" Sirius cursed as James hauled him towards the Hospital Wing, a big bleeding gash on his arm. His usual handsome face was contorted in pain. "Claw his own best friend half to-death, I'm hurt," he pretended to look offended.

"Oh come on Padfoot, its not like Remus can do anything about it when he's in his…_form_. Be thankful- imagine if you were in the muggle world; they'd never find way to heal you without it being even a little painful. At least you have Madam Pomfrey," James pointed out.

"Well in the muggle world, they wouldn't have to deal with this because it doesn't happen!" Sirius complained, motioning towards his injury and then making a werewolf face. "Just get me to the hospital wing," he grumbled.

"Sirius!" both boys turned around and found Lily running towards them, a blanket of red fiery hair flowing behind her, and a worried and shocked expression on her face. "Bloody…Merlin- what happened?" she asked, disconcerted. Lily jammed her hand inside a handbag she was wearing, took out a small towel, and wrapped it around Sirius's arm tightly. "Go take him to Madam Pomfrey!" she exclaimed, exasperated.

"Oh no- James and I were going to play some hard quidditch first, you know, get hit with a bludger a few times- WELL OF COURSE WE'RE GOING TO MADAM POMFREY!" Sirius retorted, sarcastic.

"What happened?" The redhead hurried to catch up with them as they headed in the direction of the infirmary. "Why aren't Peter and Remus with you?" she asked.

"Well uh, Remus has to go deal with his um, _furry little problem_- you know, his poor poor rabbit. And, well, Peter decided to go and help- yeah, that's right," Sirius mumbled. "And, James and I were playing some quidditch outside earlier and I fell and scraped my arm," he concluded.

"But that wound- only some kind of crazy animal could've made that!" she pointed out. "Hang on a minute-" Lily ran up in front of them to stop them from going on any further.

_Last night was a full moon…_realization hit her as she looked at the two accusingly. "You guys are always gone when there's a full moon- there was one last night…there was howling too…" Lily scrunched up her eyebrows. "You-" she pointed at James. "couldn't come to patrols last night- _Prongs_," Lily turned towards Sirius. "…and Black; your whole Marauder gang call you Padfoot, though no one ever really knew why…Peter's Wormtail and Remus's Moony- because of his _furry little problem,_" Lily gasped "He's a werewolf isn't he?" She stared at them eyes wide.

"And you're all illegal animagus,"

**I like this chapter =) especially the ending. So what did you guys think? Also, all you Hunger Games fans out there (I'm one too), teamawsome is doing one of those 'submit your own tributes!' Hunger Games fic- you guys should go check it out and maybe even submit something of your own! ;) Thanks for reading and please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Now before you all start mobbing me, I want to say that I'm awfully sorry for the much procrastinated update. Please, please forgive me- I'll try not to have it happen again…but no guarantees, unfortunately. And since I'm updating late, I won't say that much- enjoy!**

"_And you're all illegal animagus,"_

"Animagus? Oh sure, psh, wow Evans, you really think we're _animagers _or whatever?" Sirius spluttered, trying to look offended.

"Sirius-" James started, sighing.

"-see, I can't even pronounce the word right- _animaga-"_

"Sirius…"

"-_animugi_. Nope, just can't say it-" he rambled.

"SHE KNOWS ALREADY!" James exclaimed, exasperated. Sirius stopped talking and clearly looked at Lily for the first time since their encounter and gaped at her as if it were breaking news. She nodded slowly, eyebrows raised.

"So my act didn't work…? Aw darn, I really thought I had it there-" the handsome boy looked genuinely disappointed. Lily shook her head, mute but her expression saying _you __**really **__thought I'd believe you? _

"Well at least you now know that acting isn't open for you, but yes I already know. I've actually been assuming that for a while and now you've just confirmed it-" she started to go on but then laid eyes on Sirius' injured arm. "But now's not the time to converse about that," Lily said hurriedly. "You've really got to get to the infirmary," No response. James and Sirius seemed lost in their own thoughts, not paying much attention. _Typical, _the redhead though, rolling her eyes. She got behind the pair and pushed the two towards the hospital wing.

"You know, _I'm _not the one that's critically hurt or an illegal animal and I seem to be more urgent on getting you guys checked up…"

**DT**

"Well Mr. Potter, it seems you were lucky with injuries. You are free to go. As for Mr. Black here…" Madame Pomfrey turned and faced Sirius sternly, who smiled sheepishly. Looking back at Lily, the nurse started, "I don't know what kind of creature would do this kind of mark, certainly not a _werewolf, _since there are_ no_ werewolves here…no absolutely none-" Lily looked up quizzically at James. _So acting doesn't go well with Sirius and Madame Pomfrey, _she thought_…alright then…_

"It's okay Madame Pomfrey, Lily knows the whole 'story'" James interrupted.

"Does she?" the healer stared at Lily. _No more gaping…please, this is about the third time it's happened in, what? The last ten minutes? Getting old… _She nodded, smiling weakly.

"Oh that's good because I don't think I could've acted any longer- I've been told I'm absolutely dreadful at it and I guess I agree-" _So she knows…_ "Well hurry yourselves along and leave Mr. Black in peace, he'll need all the rest he can get with that awful wound…" and shooed the two out of the room. James and Lily waved to Sirius who looked bored out of his mind and was mouthing "HELP ME," over and over.

As they left the hospital wing, Lily asked James, "How long do you think he's going to be in there?"

"I'll bet you ten chocolate frogs he'll be out of there in the next hour," he replied smugly.

She frowned at the thought. "And how's that git going to do that exactly?"

"Oh he's got his ways, trust me,"

"Knowing him, I'm sure he does," She smiled at the idea of Sirius climbing on ceilings with an injured arm, all that lot. Lily turned around and faced James and for the first time, noticed the black circles under his eyes. She gasped.

"What?" the gasp taking him by surprise. He spun around quickly, looking for any signs of danger. His hand went straight to his pocket where he kept his wand.

"You haven't slept since when? 30 hours ago?" Lily pointed out worriedly.

"Oh," James sighed in relief and smiled halfheartedly. "That's not a big deal; I'm not that tired-"

"You have to get to sleep now!" she exclaimed.

"No really, I'm fine-" he started

"Don't you _dare _tell me 'you're fine'. How stupid do I look? You're going up to your dormitory NOW," Lily ordered hastily. She started to push James towards the common room, him protesting all the way. When they arrived in front of his dorm, Lily opened the door and shoved him inside.

"Ow…" James rubbed his back in pain. "Thanks to you, I now have to sleep with an aching back,"

She poked her head out of the door. "You're welcome," Lily smiled happily. Just as she was about to leave, James called out.

"Wait!"

"What?" she looked in again from behind the door. "You _are _going to sleep- I _will_ make sure of it,"

"Well, _Mother, _you made that pretty clear…" he muttered. "You're not going to tell anyone about…you know, our Marauder 'forms'?" James asked quietly.

"I'm offended that you think I would," Lily scoffed, pretending to look hurt.

"Well…I-" he spluttered.

Lily smiled. "Just because Sirius and Madame Pomfrey are terrible at acting doesn't mean I am," She took out her wand, glued the windows shut, and locked the door on her way out. "Sleep tight! And don't bother to try and sneak out- everything is 'James-escape proof'," she called back and made her way towards the Great Hall.

James sighed and chuckled. Great life, great friends, what more could he ask for? Eh, well, maybe a little more…He smiled to himself and threw himself on top of his four-poster bed, not even bothering to change into his pajamas. For the first time in 30 hours, James realized just how tired he truly was and within seconds, drifted off to sleep.

**DT**

"Prongs…Prongs…oh Prongsiee…" James slowly opened his eyes, only to find Sirius grinning broadly, looking straight at him. Behind him, Lily had her hands crossed against her chest, smiling.

"Go away," he mumbled and covered his head with the covers. (Déjà vu much? :] )

"You know, I was almost positive that with Black in your face and all, you'd be terrified…" James heard Lily mumble. He cracked a smile from underneath the blanket.

"You don't know us that well yet, and I wouldn't expect you to, since you and Prongs were all murderous towards each other…or maybe it was more you brutal to him…" Sirius pondered out loud playfully.

"I guess I don't…for one, I didn't believe that you would get out of the hospital wing for at least a day, much less an hour. I'd expect they're leading 'Find Sirius Black' around the castle now," the injured boy smiled proudly. "How exactly did you do it?" Lily asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh you know, the usual- out the window, up the walls-" Lily stared at the boy blankly.

"And you did all that with an injured arm? I guess I give you less credit than you deserve…" she said, surprised.

"I deserve way more credit than you give me," Sirius argued. "Right Prongs?" he asked, what would've looked like to any other outsider, the bed.

"Mmphsum," was all that came from the bed and Sirius nodded like a wise man and looked at Lily as if saying _You see? Even James agrees- and just in case you didn't completely comprehend that, 'Mmphsum' meant 'Well of course. The Oh So Almighty Sirius Black deserves one hundred times the amount of credit Lily Evans gives him._

"Yeah…let's go with that," Lily replied slowly to the still nodding boy. "Leave James in peace Sirius; before he starts conjuring pillows out of nowhere and I'll have to take you back to the infirmary," she said idly. A flash of terror appeared onto the handsome boys face and he slowly backed away from the bed.

"Well, uh, James, got to go- see you!" and Sirius ran out of the room. Lily laughed and headed towards the door.

"You owe me ten chocolate frogs!" a muffled voice called.

She laughed, _like bells, _James thought, and went out the door, poking her head through one last time. "Sure I do," Lily smiled and gently shut the door.

As he lay in bed, James could still hear her laugh and smile in her voice- _"Sure I do," and don't you forget it, _he thought as he drifted off to sleep, again.

**Again, I'm **_**terribly **_**sorry for the late update (you have no idea how sorry I am). With the school year starting, everyone's busy, in-school or not. **_**Please**_** forgive me and review! :]**


	13. Chapter 13

**A lot of people say 'time fly's' though personally, I think time rockets, soars, shoots; all that kind of stuff- MORE THAN A MONTH SINCE THE LAST UPDATE! Sigh…I feel so old right now XD. Anyway, chapter 13!**

Now, who really believed that Sirius could just get away from the hospital wing with climbing on the walls and then out the window? With a so-called 'complex' mind like his, no one expected him to be out of the infirmary for long before he would be hauled back in with a vow somewhere along the lines of "I WILL GET YOU FOR THIS! I WILL GET YOU!"- and with no one really understanding who this 'you' was that he was threatening.

Without a doubt, that was exactly what happened in, oh, about ten minutes after they left James sound asleep.

**DT **

_Two days later_

"…Spent two whole days in that stupid white bed, wasting precious prank time to 'heal'- total waste if you ask me," Sirius muttered bitterly as he and James walked down the vacant corridor. "Darn that nurse, darn this school, darn Dumbl-" The handsome boy looked up and his eyes widened. "Beautiful morning isn't it Minerva?" Sirius said suddenly and James turned around just in time to see Professor McGonagall swiftly walked past in her dark green robes. She stopped abruptly at the sound of Sirius' voice and narrowed her eyes at the prankster.

"Just because it's the weekend and I'm not in the mood to spoil it for you, Mr. Black, I'll let whatever you said and were going to say, pass," she replied sternly and quickly walked away.

As soon as she was out of sight, James whacked his friend on the head. "'Beautiful morning'? Sirius, it's _raining _outside-_ hard,_" he waved towards the window exasperated. Indeed, it was raining heavily; the sky was a dark gray and rain splattered against the window pane with a sharp _tack_.

"Oh," Sirius was struck dumbfounded. "You don't think she noticed, do you?"

"I hate to break it to you Padfoot, but not everyone in this world is as simple-minded as you are," James sighed.

"Hey! It could've been sunny outside when I was talking to her, but then when _you_ looked out the window, Mother Nature was all 'I will make it rain because that James Potter boy is a brat and I want to ruin his good mood,' and BOOM! She made it rain," he pointed out.

"Mother Nature does not go BOOM,"

"And you say it like you know for sure," Sirius argued. "But you don't- nope, you don't know for sure; Mother Nature can go boom- SHE CAN!" he hollered and leaped down the hallway, repeating, "Mother Nature can go BOOM- don't any of you doubt it!", scaring the first years out of their skins. _If this is how you act once you become a seventh year,_ they thought,_ then I want to stay eleven forever._

"That's Mr. Mental Black for you…" James shook his head slowly.

"Hey James," He turned around and saw Kat, Lily, and Alice walk towards him; James waved in greeting. "How's Remus doing?" Kat asked, concerned.

"He should be okay- they say he'll be in there for another week or so just to make sure he's all healed up," he reported.

"That's good," Lily sighed with a relieved look, being the only one, besides James, to know how bad Lupin's condition could've been. "So the first Quidditch game is tomorrow morning right?" she asked, changing the subject. "Since Dumbledore wanted to give today off for some odd, wise wizardly reason…"

James chuckled. "Yup- against Slytherin too; not going to stand a chance against us, but you know, that's just my, the Gryffindor captain's, opinion…" Lily grinned.

"So who's commenter?" Alice asked curiously. "Since Paul Jordan graduated last year…"

"Remus is doing it this-" James trailed off. The girls looked at him with arched eyebrows. "Moony isn't going to be able to comment this game is he…?" he concluded slowly.

"Nope, I really don't think so…" she mumbled; James nodded slowly. Suddenly, as if realization had just dawned on him, his eyes gradually widened.

"Moony can't comment tomorrow!" he exclaimed. Lily shook her head 'yes', eyebrows still raised. "I have to find replacement commenter in the next-" he looked at a nearby clock, "12 hours! Not good, not good…" he muttered, his face looking anxious. Unexpectedly, he turned to look the girls. "Will any of you-"

"No," Lily replied firmly. James' face turned from hope into disappointment. "Sorry," she added after looking at his expression. "but you are aware that we know as much about Quidditch as you do about make-up," she said.

"What's make-"

"Exactly,"

"Alright," James heaved a sigh. "Thanks anyway- I'm sure I'll find someone eventually," he said, somewhat confident. He waved goodbye and started towards his hunt for the Quidditch commenter.

**DT**

After two hours of searching, James Potter still had no luck in finding a commenter for the quickly approaching game. Everyone he had asked so far had turned down the job saying they either knew absolutely nothing on the sport or were, in James' opinion, just plain bitter and came up with so-called, _'stupid'_ excuses like "Oh, I have to study for the big Potions midterm on Monday," _Who the bloody heck studied for Potion midterms?_

_You do, _his conscience reminded him. James quickly pushed that thought out of his mind. He rubbed his forehead in frustration when a voice suddenly piped up, "Hello James,"

He looked up, half-startled and came face-to-face with sixth year, Xenophilius Lovegood. James nodded curtly to the Ravenclaw, "Xeno,"

Xenophilius suddenly raised his hand and cautiously moved it towards James' hair. He inched back slowly, and honestly, somewhat afraid, wondering what in the world the sixth-year was doing. "Uh…Xenophilius…"

"Aha! There we go," he took his hand away from James' face with his thumb and forefinger pinched together as if he were holding something. "Sorry if that made you uncomfortable James, but there was a Wrackspurt buzzing around your hair and it was bothering me a lot. Must be from all your Quidditch practices- I hear they fly around there constantly-"

"Would you like to be commenter for tomorrow's Quidditch game?" James asked suddenly, anxious.

"Commenter?" he questioned quizzically. "Well sure, as long as my head isn't infested with Wrackspurts when we leave-"

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" James exclaimed, and grabbed Xenophilius into a bear hug, his face glowing with joy. He then turned to head towards the Great Hall for lunch (two hours of commenter hunting works up an appetite) "Merlin, thank you so much Xeno; but be there tomorrow, nine o'clock," James then added with a smile, "-and don't worry, I don't think any Wrackspurts will be bothering you after the game," and he skipped towards the hall for lunch, leaving a quite perplexed Xenophilius Lovegood behind, along with a slightly annoyed Wrackspurt.

**DT**

"I still can't believe you hired _Xenophilius Lovegood_ to be commenter- he's a loony-bird!" Sirius exclaimed the next day as they were getting their Quidditch attire on. "He tried to pick _Wrackspurts _out of your hair- they don't even exist!" he said, exasperated.

"Huh, funny; I don't remember seeing you there helping me find someone with _some _Quidditch knowledge for two hours. Nope; as much as I can remember, _you _were prancing around the school, claiming Mother Nature goes BOOM," A few of the Gryffindor players snickered nervously at the comment- it was the first game of the year and everyone was pretty restless- even a decent joke could only slightly lighten the mood.

Sirius muttered softly to himself and then added quietly, "Well it's not like you can prove she doesn't," James smiled and slapped his hand on his friend's back.

"Don't worry, it'll be fine," _I hope, _he added quietly to himself. "Just play like you normally do," James then said louder, "and that goes for all of you- you guys all play fantastically well- just do what you usually do and we'll be fine. Slytherin won't stand a bloody chance," he assured confidently. The rest of the team seemed to gain a little more self-assurance after these words and smiled meekly.

"Alright, Bell, and Johnson – we'll try to stay away from Lestrange; you know how he's always trying to behead us with his bat instead of the bludgers," They nodded solemnly, all having some experience with the close call. James turned around, "Spinnet, Weasley; try to keep the bats _away_ from us. If you guys absolutely have to, then knock them in the head a few times; maybe not with your bat and just nothing to serious; don't want to get in trouble…" he trailed off, not wanting to think what would happen if they were disqualified from the game. James turned to face the Keeper and Seeker. "Robins, guard the goal posts like you usually do and it'll be great," She smiled at the remark. "And Padfoot," James turned to face Sirius. "just keep an eye out for the snitch and we'll all be set,"

"Oh really? I thought I would be able to take, oh, a coffee break in the middle of the game; you know, slip out when you guys are beating Lestrange's head in- OF COURSE I'LL KEEP AND EYE OUT FOR THE SNITCH, DING-DONG," he retorted.

"Actually, knowing you, I would expect you to take a coffee break-" James started.

"Oh thanks, really; thanks a lot,"

"You're so very welcome,"

Sirius sighed and turned towards the rest of the team who were watching the two friends in amusement. "Now," he said nonchalantly, ignoring the smirks. "let's go beat those Slytherins into the ground," and the whole crowd of wizards outside could hear the yells and shouts coming from where the Gryffindors were positioned.

**DT**

"And they're off!" Xenophilius Lovegood said as the seven members of each team sky-rocketed into the air. "And look at Mr. Sirius Black go, perched up high above the field! By the way, did any of you hear him yesterday? 'Mother Nature can go BOOM'? Fantastic claim if you ask me-"

Sirius' face was red with embarrassment and if it weren't for being disqualified from the game, he'd strangle the commenter right that minute. He glared at James from the other side of the field and the black-haired boy smiled back guiltily.

"Wow! Look at Lestrange's head be beaten in by Weasley and Spinnet! A minute, you can't see his face and then you can! It looks sort of like a struggle though, with Lestrange's head being so big-" All traces of embarrassment were gone as Sirius doubled over in laughter on his broom stick. Lestrange tried to look menacingly angry, though no could really tell with his head poking into view once in while. The two Gryffindor beaters also seemed to enjoy their task after this comment.

By then, the score was 50-0 with Gryffindor in the lead. Sirius was still recovering from his laugh attack when something urged him to look up.

"PADFOOT!" James shouted from across the pit as a gold speck whizzed past his ear.

Sirius looked up and dived for the speck as Xenophilius said into the microphone, "I think Sirius' seen something. Could it be the snitch? Or a Wrackspurt? It looks a lot like- LOOK OUT!" he shouted into the microphone, causing everyone in a five mile radius to wince at the feedback. Sirius, who was about an inch away from the snitch, looked behind him and in less then a second, found himself be tackled by the Slytherin seeker and tumbled off his broomstick, rolling onto the hard ground.

Everyone on the sidelines craned their necks to get a good look at the scene. The players on the field stopped in mid-air, looking anxiously at the two.

Using the last of his energy, Sirius raised his arm into the air, the Golden Snitch tucked gently in his hand.

**So because of the prolonged update, I made the chapter longer than usual! Yay! :] I have a pretty good idea for the the next chapter so it should be up 'soon'. Like I keep saying, I'll try my best to update sometime in the near, hopefully _very_ near, future. Thanks so much for reading and _please review_! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Quick update! Yay! XD**

"He's got it! BLACK'S GOT THE GOLDEN SNITCH! GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Xenophilius shouted into the microphone. Though no matter how loud he had said it, the comment couldn't be heard over the loud roar as everyone, besides the Slytherins, went wild.

Sirius shoved the fellow Slytherin seeker off him as he dusted himself off, stood up, and raised his hand, with the snitch, in the air; reinforcing the fact that Gryffindor had indeed, won the first game of the year. After a while of constant cheering, he lowered his arm. As the Gryffindor Seeker breathed a sigh of relief, he heard a sudden roar and looked up, simply to find his fellow teammates tackle him to the ground, and down he fell…again.

"Mate, that…that was FANTASTIC!" James praised as he slapped his best friend on his back; once Sirius sat back up of course, but he beamed as the rest of the team agreed in unison. As James helped his friend up off from the ground, Lily, Kat, Alice, and little Peter ran over the field to meet up with them.

"Blimey you guys, congrats!" Lily exclaimed as she tightly hugged the handsome boy and James, almost to the point of genuinely suffocating them.

"Good job Padfoot!" Peter squeaked shyly.

"Thanks Pete," Sirius responded, ruffling Peter's hair intentionally, happy for his friends praise.

After she had let go of the two, Lily looked up at Gryffindor captain and smiled. "I have to say, amazing job at picking out the team; you all did amazingly well," she complimented. "-and I actually mean it; when I say this to the fifth years that receive 'A's on every single subject on their O.W.L's is when I don't," James laughed. She continued, "-how they can be satisfied with an 'A' in **every single bloody subject**, well, it bothers me…" Lily trailed off.

"A lot of academic things bother you, Lils," Alice mumbled. The redhead glared dangerously at her friend who smiled back awkwardly.

Not even the slightest scared by the vicious look, Katherine interrupted and continued on from where her friend left off, "-but now's not the time to contemplate over that is it?" she was rewarded with uncomfortable silence. "I mean, look at this!" Kat waved her hands in the air. "We just one the first game of the year and-" Sirius stared at Kat, offended.

"'_We'? _If I remember correctly it was us," he motioned towards the team. "that did all the scoring and _me_, _Sirius Black, _who caught the snitch,"

"Alright, alright don't get your pants in a bunch," she scoffed.

Now he was just plain confused. "Pants…bunch…what?"

"Muggle saying," Kat explained; he nodded, still somewhat perplexed. "The point is," she went on, "_you _guys," she glared at Sirius who was happily content with the how she had formatted the introduction this time; all the glory going to **him** and the Gryffindor team. "-just won the first game of the year, and here we are, talking about academic grades and how it bothers each one of us!" Kat said exasperated. She glanced at the redhead sheepishly. "No offense, Lily,"

"None taken," Lily spat.

James smiled and gave the redhead an encouraging shoulder squeeze. "Aw, it's alright Lily," he said reassuringly. "You all want to go visit Remus before we celebrate?" he asked them all, and Lily smiled appreciatively at him for the change in subject; the rest of the team had quietly dispersed by then. They all agreed to stop by the hospital wing on their way to the common room, where all the festivities would be.

"We better make it quick though," Sirius said. "I want to get the common room before all the butterbeer run out…"

"So you're saying butterbeer's more important than Remus?" James questioned, amused.

"No- but…"

"HEY REMUS!" James suddenly shouted out loud through the whole entire field. "SIRIUS THINKS BUTTERBEER'S MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOU ARE!" and he took off running towards the castle, knowing that Sirius would be right at his heels, chasing him.

"HE LIES MOONY!" Sirius exclaimed. "PRONGS LIES!" and into the school they went, their voices still echoing throughout the vacant hallways. With those two gone, a prolonged silence settled upon the rest of the group.

"Peter," Alice suddenly said.

"Yeah?" he asked.

And with a deadpan look on her face, Alice questioned, looking genuinely perplexed, "How the bloody heck do you live with them?"

**DT**

"How ya doing Moony?" Sirius asked his friend cheerfully. The two boys arrived at about the same time and thankfully, the rest of the group wasn't far behind; if it weren't for them, James and Sirius would still be at each other's throats.

Remus was sitting up in his bed, reading, or actually, _re_reading _Hogwarts: a History_, when the unexpected arrival of his two friends caused him to drop his book, ending his yearned for quiet time; for the moment.

His condition, on the other hand, was decent. Most of the color had returned to his face and it seemed that if he continued to progress as nicely as he had so far, they'd let him out by tomorrow morning, to everyone's relief.

"I'm okay," Lupin replied as he gave Kat and the rest of the people a hug.

"Good," Kat said, relieved. "With that sudden flu just coming from no where; it had us really scared," she went on, still looking somewhat concerned. Remus smiled; the tiniest bit of guilt for not telling everyone why he was stuck in the infirmary etched on his face. _So that's what people think; that Remus has the flu…_Moony turned towards James and motioned his head a tiny bit towards Lily. James nodded and Remus grinned gratefully at her. Lily smiled, nodding her head.

All of this non-verbal communication happened without any of the others, and by others, I mean Kat and Alice, noticing; you had to have some sort of skill to pull that off, right? Considering how observant _those two_ are.

**DT**

"So James," Lupin started. "I hear the commenting for the game was…interesting this time around," he said, entertained.

"Heh, yeah, well..." James face flushed. "No one else knew much about the darn subject besides Lovegood," He stood up straighter. "But if I do say so myself, the game itself went by pretty well,"

"It did," Remus agreed. "Oh yes, and Padfoot," he turned towards Sirius. "during the whole commenting, I think I picked up something vaguely along the lines of, and please correct me if I'm wrong, 'Mother Nature can go BOOM,'," Everyone in the room laughed. "Care to explain that?" Remus asked innocently.

"You guys are still on that?" he whined, his face pink. He sighed, "If you want the whole story, it's pretty long; see-"

Sirius was about to say more when James interrupted and states, "He was high," Sirius glared at him.

"Ah…that clarifies so much…" Remus said. "You know," he continued. "that explanation only applies to you; if it were anyone else in this room or world, I'd still be as confused as ever,"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sirius snapped.

And that was pretty much the end of their conversation.

**DT**

After a little more talking, the six waved goodbye to Remus and started towards the common room. Before they even reached the portrait hole, they could already hear the celebrating on the other side of the wall.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked them.

"Dilligrout" Lily stated firmly.

"Alright fine, I'll let you lot go," The Fat Lady sighed as she unveiled the portrait hole. "But you tell those rascals in there to quiet down! I have to get to Violet's early tomorrow morning, they're giving me a headache, and I can't sleep!" she exclaimed.

"Will do Fat Lady, will do," Sirius called out before the portrait door swung close with a loud "Humph!"

If the room was loud before, then now, the noise was deafening; much to the Fat Lady's displeasure. With the Gryffindor captain and star Seeker's arrival, everyone crowded around the two and cheered as loudly as they could. Sirius and James were lifted up into the air, though James looked a little uncomfortable, considering that all the other times he was lifted up in the air was on his broomstick. Sirius on the other hand, seemed to enjoy all the attention from fellow housemates (and of course, girls) because, well, he was _Sirius Black_.

Fortunately, James was let down soon, though Sirius was still floating in a sea of hands, and he approached Lily with two butterbeers in his hands. She was sitting in a chair, staring at the scene, looking rather uncomfortable, with Kat and Alice no where in sight. Lily look up and saw the black-haired boy approach her and smiled gratefully when he tossed her a bottle of butterbeer and seated himself next to her.

After a short moment of silence between the two, James turned towards Lily and started, "So where'd future _Mrs. Longbottom and Mrs. Lupin_ go?" he asked nonchalantly.

Lily stared straight ahead and smirked. "Mrs. Longbottom's somewhere with Mr. Longbottom and Mrs. Lupin wasn't in the mood to stay and went to get some sleep,"

"Ah…and what are you doing, _Mrs. Potter_?" he asked just as casually.

Lily scoffed and she turned to smacked James in the arm. He laughed and Lily said bitterly, "That's _Ms. Evans _to you Mr. Potter," though surprisingly, she let the comment pass without much fuss.

Another session of awkward silence fell between them, both of them in deep thought. While she was still pondering on some unknown subject, Lily chuckled.

"What?" James asked.

"Just watching Sirius dance around drunk," She stopped for moment. "Which reminds me- shouldn't you be out there partying, absorbing all the attention like you do, or at least use to?"

"Nah," he said. "It's not like it makes me feel better when other people start giving you all this attention over one little good thing you did. Once the time passes, everything's back to normal and no one remembers a thing," James reasoned. "Plus, most people don't like it, acting all arrogant and snotty," He looked at Lily and she caught his eye, blushing. _He's changed_, she thought. _James Potter's really changed; he's nicer, less arrogant, funny, pleasant to be around and I found out about all this when? Today! Wow…I really don't know that much about him_, Lily concluded.

"So," she started. "tell me about yourself,"

James blinked. "What's there to know?"

"Eh, anything," she said. "Since you're not an arrogant quidditch player/ pig anymore," Lily joked but continued on. "and we're now friends and all," she tried to look unmoved when she said this. "I feel we should get to know each other better," Lily sat up straighter and looked at James. "So, you start,"

"Well, I'm James Potter and it just so happens that, according to someone, I _use_ to be an arrogant quidditch player/ pig but now, still according to that same someone, it seems that I'm just a regular quidditch player and friends with a know-it-all," He grinned at Lily who laughed but urged him on.

James looked at her, still a little puzzled at the sudden interrogating but continued anyway; his family, how he found interest in Quidditch… "So one day, I walk into my dad's workshop and he has these broomsticks flying around…"

Lily laughed when James reminisced funny times; when she heard about the time he lost his mother in Diagon Alley and went into almost every shop, requesting for "A somewhat young woman with the name of Rose Potter,", Lily imagined everything he told her.

So there they were, the two young friends; catching up on each other, and making up for the lost years.

"_And what are you doing, Mrs. Potter?"_

_**Ms. Evans**__, _Lily thought, smiling to herself, _is happily enjoying herself with Mr. Potter._

**Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! So anyone watched Harry Potter 7 pt 1? I did! And in my opinion, it was a pretty good movie. XD Anyway, about the story- I feel like Lily's life is getting too decent, if not perfect, and nothing's really happening; so just a precaution- prepare yourselves for some twists in the near future- thanks so much for reading and **_**as always, reviews are loved and greatly appreciated!**_

_**PS, I felt kind of bad expressing Kat as 'Mrs. Lupin,' knowing that she wasn't going to end up with him at the end…:( just a side note. **_


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey! GUESS WHAT? I'M ALIVE! ForeverSinging is **_**alive!**_** And she's updating for the first time in almost **_**six **_**months!**

**You guys, I'm **_**terribly**_** sorry for this huge hiatus I put the story on – you wouldn't **_**believe **_**how busy I've been. I'm so sorry – I cringe every time I remind myself that I haven't updated in six months. Please don't be mad – honestly, I'm kind of scared about updating again because I keep thinking you guys are going to berate me about my horrible inconsistency. I beg you, please don't be angry! And don't give up on the story either! With the school year starting to wind down, I'll have much**_** much **_**more time to write and update. Once summer hits, I'll hopefully have a chapter up every two weeks at the **_**latest**_** (unless there are vacation things…but that's a different story) Forgive me, please?**

**However, during my long pause, I've been able to learn **_**a lot**_** more about hot to improve my writing and such and hopefully, you'll see some good changes in the next few chapters, skill-wise?**

**You guys who are reading this and giving it another chance – thank you! You're all amazing :) **

"_You…you Lily, will play a great role in the wizarding world's future...a great role…"_

_Lily slowly turned in a circle, trembling in fear of the voice that seemed to come from a great distance away (and sound suspiciously like Professor Trelawney). She had no clue where she was – her surroundings where pitch black, except for a faint light in the distance, the place where the voice supposedly was coming from. "…Wh-what do you mean?" she managed to ask._

"_In a matter of time, you child, you will come face to face with the most evil…most malicious of them all…and it will be a matter of life or death…there will be a prophecy that has to do with you and others – _

'_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ..._'

"…_When?" Lily spluttered, cutting the voice off. Her mind filled with shock and questions, she continued to cautiously turn around in circles, looking keenly at everything, expecting some horrid creature to strike at any moment._

"_Soon…soon Lily Potter…soon…" The voice faded away as a quiet snarl was heard from behind Lily. She turned quickly towards the noise and reached for her wand…only to find that it wasn't there. Defenseless, Lily positioned herself as best she could so she would be able to see as much of the area around her. The snarl grew increasingly louder and a high pitched cackle was heard just as a bright beam of light shot at her, swallowing up Lily's screams._

* * *

Lily Evans woke up with a start, her hair matted onto her face which was covered in sweat. Desperately, she quickly looked around her and soon realized all of it had been just a dream – the weird voice, the unknown monster, everything, only a dream. Looking towards her dorm mates, Lily found Kat and Alice sound asleep. She found it strange, how her two friends could sleep so peacefully, not a bother upon them, while Lily herself had possibly just received her own death sentence. _"…a matter of life or death…" _the voice had said. It also said it would have to do with her and 'others'. A chill ran up her spin.

Looking at her bedside clock, finding that it was only 3 in the morning, and that she still had a whole day of classes ahead of her, Lily decided to shake off the paranoia and settled back into bed. Exhausted, she quickly fell back to sleep, almost without the vague realization of the minor detail that might have given her a clue as to who the 'others' where. The voice had called her "Lily _Potter"._

"Rise and shine Lily! We've got classes today – exciting isn't it?" Kat inquired as she shook her dorm mate awake. Lily groaned and waved her hand aimlessly towards the light.

"Kat, we all know you have _many_ things you're good at. Nonetheless, I'm sorry to say that sarcasm is not one of them." Alice said to Katherine from her own bed.

"Oh and your just _perfect_,"

"Why thank you," Changing subject, Alice asked, "How'd you sleep last night Lils?"

The redhead contemplated on whether to tell her friends about her odd 'nightmare' when she reminded herself again that it was _only a dream_. There was nothing to worry about_. _"Good," she finally replied, eyes closed.

"Liar," Kat said abruptly.

Lily's eyes flashed open and looked at her friend, worried. Questions filled her mind. How would Kat know? Had Lily been tossing around during the nightmare? Screaming, even? Maybe she even had the same dream. "Wh- what?" she asked, almost accusingly.

"I'm only kidding," Kat reassured, confused at Lily's sudden fret. "I bet you slept like a baby – geez Lily, loosen up will you?"

"But -"

"Enough dillydallying; now hurry up slowpokes. I'll see you guys at breakfast," Katherine added before going down the stairs to the Great Hall.

"Seems to be in a name-calling mood, Kat," Alice observed.

"Hm,"

* * *

"You seem kind of dazed today, James," Kat remarked when everyone had arrived for breakfast. "Kind of like Lily this morning," she added, earning her a kick from under the table. "Something wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing," James snapped out of his thoughts. Still, he did look kind of out of it, in Lily's opinion. His hair was messier than usual (how that was possible, only Merlin knew), there were slight bags under his eyes, and they kept darting around as if someone was going to attack at any moment.

"Reckon Prongs had a bit of a nightmare last night," Sirius chipped in. Lily stopped eating and paid close attention. "Wouldn't stop tossing and turning all night. Kept muttering something about _'prophecy'_ – you can admit you had one and still have your tough ego, Prongs. Everyone has them–"

"Sirius does," Remus offered. "Even if they are about him losing his comb…" He smiled apologetically at his friend who looked deeply affronted; Kat snickered.

James, though, didn't even comment on the conversation or crack a smile, which was quite unlike him. Even though he was physically there, James Potter was mentally gone. "It's nothing. Now if you'll excuse me…" He managed to say, got up from the table, and headed towards the door.

Lily still hadn't touched anything from her plate since the mention of _'prophecy'_. She looked off to wear James had sat moments ago; thinking about the vague possibility that James had the same 'nightmare' she had the night before. Could it?

If no one had brought up anything about it before, after a few days, it would just be ancient history for Lily. But with the sudden proposal that James could've perhaps had the same dream and somehow be associated with it like she might be, well, even for a girl like Lily Evans, that was enough motivation – she had to find out.

Halfway down the hall, James heard Lily run up from behind him. "James!" she called. "James, wait!"

He turned around and stopped, giving Lily a chance to catch up to him. Tired, James smiled weakly. "Hey Lily,"

"Hi," she greeted, breathless from the running. Before she even fully caught her breath, though, Lily began to speak. "So," She quirked an eyebrow. "I take it you had a nightmare?"

James groaned when he realized where this seemingly was all going. "No Lily, I don't want to talk about it. Really, it's nothing-"

"But I had one too!" she reasoned, realizing too late how childish that sounded.

"Really now? Well congratulations," he snapped and turned to walk away.

Lily cringed; James never spoke like that to anyone he considered a friend. Merlin, even when he and Lily were on rivalry terms James never talked to her like that. He was always calm – when friends got into disputes, James would be the one to settle them, or at least give them good reasons not to hex each other into stupor. Any other day, Lily would've been worried about his abrupt change in attitude. However, given the circumstances, if he'd had the same dream, his behavior was pretty understandable.

"No – James!" she called after him. After he gave no signs of stopping, Lily grew aggravated. If he wasn't going to listen, she'd have no way of finding if he'd heard the prophecy, if it was true. Suddenly, Lily recited –

'_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ..._'

James stopped in his tracks. He turned around slowly to face Lily, face filled with recognition from the familiar lines.

Given the look on expression on his face, Lily heaved a sigh of relief, knowing James would actually listen to her now. Nevertheless, just as soon as James had stopped walking away, a rush of anxiety washed over Lily; so it wasn't _'just a dream' _– there probably was a lot more to it than what was seen…

"Y – You had it too?" he stuttered, clearly surprised.

"Me? No; I just had this spark of inspiration to recite you a self-composed poem about evil dark lords right on the spot,"

"Don't get smart on me Lily," James smiled and sighed. For the first time today, he looked and felt genuinely relieved. He rubbed his forehead. "So you're not kidding? You had the same dream?"

"The one with the voice that creepily sounds like Professor–"

"Trelawney," James finished for her with a grin. "That's the one," As quick as it took for relief to hit him, he quickly became solemn. "It doesn't sound good though. Dark Lord, vanquish, not the words you want to cheer someone up with,"

Lily's eyes grew dark as the realization of what could possibly be to come dawned on her. Dark Lord…power…defiance…vanquish…and somehow, James and she were also tied into this. As fear crept upon her, the redhead reflected on how she might have reacted if she was told that the dream meant something true and somber…and that she was completely alone in it.

"Ah, Dark Lord, destruction, some powerful hero, and a voice that strangely sounds like Trelawney–" He paused for a moment. "Blimey, it also said that–" he cut off midsentence and all of a sudden, his eyes clouded with worry. James quickly gained his composure, not soon enough, however, to have it go unnoticed by Lily.

"Something wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"N – Nothing," he quickly replied. "So how's this all going to work?"

For now, Lily concluded, she would push all those worries of what could become of her, or _them _in this case, out of her mind. Whatever was to come, at least Lily wouldn't have to face it alone, even if it was only with James Potter, someone she had just barely started to trust and get to know. Who knew? Maybe it could be the start of something _exciting _even; dangerous, but exciting. She took a deep breath and smiled, ready for whatever came her way.

"We'll just have to find out now, won't we?"

**Again, terribly sorry about this huge delay. But thank you so much for reading; you guys are awesome. :) **

**Take a few seconds and review please? It doesn't take that long and they give me motivation to update faster. I still want some advice on how to improve because after reading and talking to other writers, I now know for sure that I'm still far from even being somewhat decent. Or review and talk about your overall thought about this, ideas, anything. They're all loved. **

**~ForeverSinging ;)**


	16. Chapter 16

**Tiny problem I've been having lately – I can't seem to reply to any reviews given to me. Every time I click on the reply URL, it leads me to a site that says "Your link is outdated. Please check for errors"**

**Those of you that have reviewed recently and I haven't been able to reply, sorry! I don't know what's with the links but…some of you, actually, I could reply through this really weird looking PM system but for others, I couldn't get through. Is anyone else having this problem? :/**

**If you haven't gotten a reply from me yet for your review, please don't assume I'm being ignorant and such. Really appreciated all the reviews I got from the last update even though I was terrible to you all. You guys are the best. :]**

"…I see that you're proceeding nicely with the plan…You've obediently left her alone and now all has fallen into place," a low raspy voice praised.

"Yes, Sir," The boy's surroundings were dark. In the midst of the eerie Forbidden Forest, nothing was clear; the child couldn't see anything beyond the front of his extended arm. He only knew he was talking to his "master" from the way his voice sounded. Besides the two, all was quiet – it was long after curfew and everyone on the school grounds were sound asleep.

"The mudblood…" the stained voice continued. "I take it from your observations that she's close to the Potter boy?"

"Yes, Sir,"

"…Perfect…" he purred. "Now, not only can we get rid of that backstabbing pureblood and his family, we'll annihilate a mudblood too," The 'master' chuckled.

"Sir –" Sweat ran down the back of the boy's neck. As 'evil' as he was, saying it the way his master did, _annihilate, _that just made everything seem more malicious than it already was.

"Do not fret, my child. Everything you do for me now will bring us all a better future," the harsh tone assured.

"Yes, Sir,"

"Good, now get back to your dorm before the professors notice your absence," and as the boy headed towards the school, the man praised him once more.

"Well done, Severus, well done…" The cloaked man turned and disappeared into the shadows, leaving the forest empty of the presence of any humans or wizards.

Or that's what it seemed like.

Only a few feet away from where the conversation between the two figures had taken place, a figure that had heard every word exchanged crouched behind a trampled bush. A boy.

A boy by the name of Peter Pettigrew.

* * *

Severus looked at his watch as he hurried down the school halls. 9:25 A.M. He was scheduled to meet with the Carrow siblings in five minutes to tell them what he had heard from the man he had met with late last night.

He shouldn't be associated with them, his conscious nagged. There was no reason to be caught up in all this, only to possibly end up in disaster. For Merlin's sake, he was putting Lily Evans' _life _on the line, the girl he had vowed to always protect no matter what. He was even most likely sending Potter to a horrible fate. As much as he loathed the Marauders, it didn't seem to be the right thing to send them to their probable deaths.

But they deserved it. Lily did, the Potter boy, all of them. It would be payback, revenge, for everything they had done to him. All the times when he was made fun of and didn't have a comeback – this would be it.

That darn mudblood; publicly avoiding him, unforgiving to the tiny slip of that wretched word that ended up costing their friendship, and the guts she had to start hanging around with the bloody Potter boy in front of him. Become _friends _with the boy even.

And Potter – constantly making a fool out of others for pure enjoyment, the arrogance that circled around him relentlessly – he thought he could get away with it.

Not anymore. Not when he and his group were through with them a-

"Severus!" a voice broke out from the silence. The Slytherin stopped in his tracks and abruptly turned around. He snickered. Peter Pettigrew; what could that vermin possibly want?

"Pettigrew," he acknowledged. "What brings you here? It's such a great day; you should be outside with your lot playi-"

"Don't try to make conversation with me!" the small boy said quite firmly, to Severus' surprise. "I know what you're up to Snivellus – it's not right! You're evil, corrupt, malicious-"

"Peter," Snape started gently. "You don't even know half the story. It's just classmate revenge, and it's not even that bad – none of your friends will be harmed _at all_," he reassured softly. "And think about it, won't it do them some good? From what I've observed, you're always the one left out, always trailing behind the others, always acting under the demands of everyone else. Hm? Tell me I'm wrong,"

"You're wr-" Peter's voice faltered. Severus wasn't wrong, he concluded as realization dawned on him. In their Marauder group, James, Sirius, and Remus always seemed like the leaders. He was just a shadow lurking behind the three, the lesser of the four. Everyone looked up to those three but looked down on Peter. He was the bystander, the 'acquaintance', the follower – never had he gotten any fame from being within the Marauders group. It was always 'The Infamous James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Their Tag-along, Peter Pettigrew'. Rage boiled inside of him as he reflected upon everything. Quickly, realizing that at the moment, he could only respond in favor of Snape, Peter spun around and quickly walked away.

"I'm right, aren't I, Peter?" Severus called back to the boy. "You can hang with us if you want. We won't treat you like they do,"

Without any form of consent, the little boy walked on down the hall, dodging incoming students.

As he walked into the Gryffindor common room, Peter saw Remus, Sirius, and James fighting over a box of chocolate frogs. He looked at them with hurt.

"Oh hey Pete," Remus called. "Care for a chocolate frog?"

"NO! IT'S MINE!" Sirius claimed and the arguing resumed on.

Devoid of any acknowledgement, Peter looked at the trio with one more look of mixed emotions, and continued up to his dormitory. For the moment, he just wanted to be alone.

Normally, Peter would be completely positive that the Marauders were his real friends. Maybe Severus was right, maybe he was wrong.

As of now, he couldn't be sure at all.


	17. Chapter 17

**An explanation for the late update? Vacation – and it's only been a little while since I got back so…sorry! **

**Feedback please? I find my writing style becoming extremely mundane and unoriginal...so help? And let me just once more that I really really don't mind it when people review saying that 'this part stinks' or 'that sucks'. Honestly, I might thank you a BUNCH instead for being such a big help in improving my writing. Anything is welcomed. Thanks a ton! Love you all :)**

"_Wingardium Leviosa,"_

A cloaked figure hid behind a bookshelf in the library as he lifted up his wand and levitated a small slip of paper into Lily Evans coat pocket. At the moment, she was talking to a fifth year boy about his revised patrolling schedule. As the piece of paper silently fell into the pocket, unnoticed by anyone, the cloaked figure chuckled and smiled.

"Good," he purred. "Now we can sit back and watch everything fall into place,"

Lily waved goodbye to the Perfect and walked towards the Great Hall, oblivious to everything that had just happened.

"Perfect,"

* * *

"Hogsmeade, oh Hogsmeade, what joy you bring to me-" Sirius Black sang, his eyes glowing. "Oi! Moony! I just made a rhyme!" he called from inside the Gryffindor common room, head held high, filled with pride. **(HA! Another rhyme. Wow.)**

Remus was sitting by a table reading _Hogwarts: A History._ Absentmindedly he said, "Proud of you Sirius, proud of you-"

"You didn't even listen!" he pouted. "Sticking your little head into that book – what is it, the sixth time you've read it?"

"Sixth, seventh, what's the difference?" Remus looked up from the book. "What's it to you?"

"Humph. Well let's see if that _book_ can teach you a thing or two about poetry. Start rhyming, Remmy!"

"I'd rather not-"

"Aha, you see, that didn't rhyme _at all,"_

Remus peered at him curiously and quirked an eyebrow, "Well it's not like I intended for it to-"

"My dear friend, it's perfectly fine to admit that you do not have this _brilliant_ poetic talent- just goes to show you the huge downside to reading; all those learning pish-poshes? _Lies._ And to think, only I, Sirius Black, was able to see through such a trick-" he rambled on, unaware that Remus had completely tuned out of the conversation, and instead was looking for any signs of Peter. From the looks of it, the boy was off in the dormitory again, sulking for some unknown reason. The more Remus thought about it, the more he realized how often Peter had been doing that lately. _Hmm, strange. _

"Are we still going to Hogsmeade with the girls this weekend?" Lupin turned towards James, who was sitting on a couch, staring off into space. Upon receiving no response from his dazed friend, Remus called, "James?"

Still nothing.

"Maybe it's not really Prongs, Remus," Sirius pondered aloud, taking a break from his haikus. "Maybe it's a dateless bloke using the Polyjuice Potion and only _pretending _to be little Prongsies…but why would someone do that?" He trailed off and gasped a few seconds later in realization. "I know why! So he can have complete access _to the secrets of becoming charming and handsome like me-"_

"_Or,"_ Remus interrupted, rolling his eyes. "he's daydreaming,"

"Hm, unlikely. My theory seems more authentic-"

"James," Remus tried again. "James…" he continued. Innocently

"Wakie wakie James…I'll even let you deflate my head-"

"Really?" James' head snapped up. Even Remus looked surprised at such a proposal from Sirius.

"Something wrong, James?" Remus asked. "You seem kind of out of it,"

He merely shrugged. "It's nothing," _Yeah right. If a weird prophecy that decides your fate is considered nothing. _He mentally slapped himself. _Merlin, James_, he reminded himself, _get over it! Remember, prophecy-like thing = bad dream…that Lily also coincidentally had – nothing more. _"Just thinking of…stuff,"

"So you missed my amazing rhyming epiphany?" Sirius whined – he then sighed. "No bother, I'll just do it again. _Hogsmeade, oh Hogsmeade, what joy you bring to me_ – genius, isn't it? I'm working on the second stanza now-"

James mentally waved away his thoughts and grimaced at Sirius.. "Sure, it's _wonderful_. Just don't let all that pride blow up your head-"

"It's not like there's really much in there anyway-"

"HEY! Did you _not _just hear that fantastic rhyme, Moony? _Twice?_" Sirius huffed.

"You didn't let me finish," Remus reasoned, pouting. "'It's not like there's really much in there anyway…_most of the time_,'" Sirius stood where he was, silently fuming.

"…Is he going to be alright…?" James eyed his friend awkwardly.

"It's not like it's the first time you've seen him like this. And back to the question," Remus quickly changed the topic. "Are we or are we _not _going with the girls to the place that is the sole inspiration of Black's poems?"

* * *

"Where to?" James asked as the troop walked down the streets of Hogsmeade.

"MADAME ROSMERTA'S!" Sirius exclaimed.

"_Who?_" Kat asked, cringing from the amount of noise he had made.

"C'mon Lukowski; even someone with a brain like yours should know who Madame Rosmerta is," Sirius mocked.

"I know who she is, Black," she replied bitterly, glaring. "But why go to the Three Broomsticks? Why not Honeydukes or something? Besides, I hear Rosmerta's an old crabby lady,"

"Says who?"

"Oh…nobody,"

"Who?"

"No one, really…no one, justSnape," Kat said quickly.

"_Snivellous?"_ Sirius roared, incredulous.

"This was before the incident in fifth year-"

"-Out of _all _the people in the world, you take _Snivellous Snape's _opinion of other people? _Death Eater Snivellous Sna - _OW! Prongs, what was that for-_" _James had punched his friend in the arm, and was motioning towards Lily. She was looking away and gazing at the people walking by, avoiding eye contact.

Sirius sighed. "Let's just say it this way. Madame Rosmerta is probably the only…_elder lady_…who _doesn't _throw a temper tantrum every two minutes of her withering life. We," he acknowledged to the Marauders (Peter had joined grumpily, though his mood seemed to be getting better. Frank was also there, courtesy of Alice), "also have a _wonderful_ friendship with her too,"

"Wow," breathed Alice. "She can put up with you and _not _throw temper tantrums every two minutes? I thought she would've gone through her ceiling by now. _Fascinating," _

"…And ignoring that comment, we move on into the conversation," Sirius huffed. "Trust me, just come with us and it'll be fun. And since you're with the charming four, you might even get a discount on the prices," he added smugly.

"Black, this is the first time I'm going to believe what you say. Do _not _make it the last," Katherine warned as she glanced anxiously in the pub's direction.

"Don't worry Flower; you've got nothing to lose,"

"Rosmerta!" Sirius called as they walked into the crowded room. "Remember us?"

"Sirius!" shouted a cheery voice from what seemed to be the back of the room. "How could I not? Is that you and the Marauders? Hang on there for a minute, I'll be right out!" and not a second too soon, a happy barmaid walked out from the back-room. "Welcome back for another year – your final one, I take it?"

"Sure is," James affirmed.

"Oh and these lovely girls," she smiled at them. "Take a seat! Eight butterbeers already on the way, free of charge," Sirius smirked at Kat, his expression stating _I told you so._

"Want to revise your first impression of supposedly crabby Rosmerta?" he suggested to Katherine smugly as they all took a seat.

"Sirius, two words – shut up,"

"Hurtful," He clutched his chest in mock pain. "And evenafter I get you that _generous_ discount-"

A loud gasp caused silence to envelope the entire table.

"Lily?" James asked, eyebrows scrunched with worry. "Lily, what's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh nothing," she hurriedly stuffed the sheet of paper back into her pocket. "You guys enjoy yourselves here. I'm going to breathe in some fresh air outside – tell me when the drinks get here," Quickly stuffing her hands into her coat pockets, Lily walked out.

Outside, people filled the streets, talking and laughing without a care in the world. Lily's head spun as she swiftly walked down the road. She was a good distance away from the pub before she stopped to look back behind her one more time, making sure no one was looking at her, and reached for the letter. Her heart pounded loudly as she unfolded the sheet of paper and reread what she had just minutes before.

_Lily Flower,_

_How have you been doing lately? Fine, I assume? Fantastic, just fantastic. Now, do me a favor, won't you darling?_

_Stay away from James Potter._

_You read it right Evans. Stay away from him. Don't get any nearer to him; don't ever let me see you get all buddy-buddy with him again. And just as side-note: I am not a crazy fanatic girl that wants you out of the way. Merlin, I'm not even female. Honestly, I don't know what witches see in him so trust me on this at least._

_Don't say I never warned you – I __will__ be watching, and if I see any more interaction between you two, I __will__ end it; either by getting rid of him…or getting rid of you. Believe me; I feel no guilt in this little death threat. I'll dispose of anyone necessary, and it's not like I'm alone in this either. I've got backup – plenty of backup. I'm not someone you would want to mess with Evans._

_You stay away from him, and I'll stay away from any one of you. Do we have ourselves a deal?_

_It's been great working with you – I hope this all works out in the end._

_M.D.P_

Lily's hands shook as she reread the letter a second time. The way it sounded in the note…the sender portrayed himself as a person who would have no problem getting rid of anybody at anytime, let alone Lily and James. And just when she thought everything was working out – she was no longer archenemies with the Marauders and her seventh year was going really well.

'_M.D.P'…_who had Hogwarts had the initials of M.D.P? Or maybe the person didn't go to Hogwarts? But who in the whole entire wizarding world would be thick enough to leave their_ full_ initials in a death threat? And the handwriting…it looked so familiar…

_M.D.P…M.D.P…_

Lily gasped as realization dawned upon her.

Michael David Pursh.


End file.
